TM9420 Pondliness 42×48 oil on panel

Shallow ponds are so mysterious, so slow to give up their secrets. Based on  shallow ponds, swamps, streams, and creeks, Pondliness is a slow, painterly penetration into reflections, occasional surface growth, and floating leaves. It is also about change, not knowing what will happen next, and trusting one’s intuition.

I started the painting last spring, and thought it would develop quickly, but the beavers were feeling particularly industrious and completely changed their civil engineering plans. Whole swaths of my wetland became new ponds. The place I was painting pretty much disappeared. The problem was that I liked the painting that was underway, but I liked the new “source” better. I’ve spent nearly a year bringing the two subjects together into one painting, and decided to call it Pondliness because it isn’t one moment in time in one place but the best of one place in all its changing iterations. Besides, pondliness rhymes with likeness and kindness two favorite words of mine. Details below. Enjoy.

TM9420 Pondliness – detail from left of center with reflected branches, achieved by drawing with a scraper

TM9420 Pondliness – detail from upper left with reflections and floating leaves

TM9420 Pondliness – detail from right side, showing use of layered roller strokes and soft blending