TM8995 Willow Wind 36×48 oil on panel

Who isn’t hypnotized by the movement of reflections in a still pond? Willow Wind is a meditation on those movements, an opportunity to surrender to the moment, to float with slender willow leaves on s soft breeze, to be somewhere else. Sometimes that is more than enough. Details below. Enjoy!

TM8995 WIllow Wind – detail from above center with willow reflections and floating duckweed

TM8995 Willow Wind – detail from upper right

Technical painting notes: Willow Wind evolved slowly, beginning as a much more realistic reflection of leaves in the pond. But I was never satisfied with it – it felt too static. When I thought about the initial experience at the pond, I realized that the movement of the leaves was what attracted me most – the sense that I was watching a dance. With that in mind, I took the plunge, mixed some color with Liquin Impasto medium, then started rolling color onto the surface, softening edges. As the edges softened, the painting started to come to life. The movement implied by the softer edges felt more like what I had seen, and it matched the soft quality of the air that day in early summer. The buttery yellows felt more like the warm sunlight. It took quite a few sessions of rolling, letting it all dry, emphasizing some shapes with brushwork, strengthening colors, then re-rolling with the semi-transparent paint to get the final result.