Today I worked on the large painting of the tree. Although the painting had many things that were wonderful about it, it was not working as a complete piece: the top was not integrated into the rest. I have been waiting for days for the weather to be right for me to go out and work on it and today was an Indian summer day, perfect for doing work outside. I was also fortunate that this particular maple is one of the last trees to loose it's leaves. I believe it is the same tree that is outside of my daughter's window on Somerset Road.



The work was frustrating, and all the problems that plagued me when I was doing the small studies returned as I worked on this larger piece. I kept hoping to capture some of the energy and lusciousness of the paint that I had when I did my work in class last week, but alas that eluded me as everything I seemed to do something luscious the piece looked fragmented.

I will be interested to see what Jill says about the piece. It became much darker and definitely has atmosphere to it. Part of me sees it as a successful piece that holds together. Part of me is upset that I failed to find a way to move paint against paint to capture the tree.