There is a place nearby that is quite wet most of the year, and the trees are growing in a way that they are tangling up in each other. In addition, there is a lot of moss growth on the trunks and branches, forming thin layers of deep green. It is a fascinating place, and one I like to visit often. In the middle of this, there is a tree that is tilted forward and has a lot of branches spreading out. I visited this tree last summer in the evenings to paint it, because it really draws you in. But it also poses a challenge. You can’t see where the tree ends or begins, and there is an endless amount of branches and leaves. This results in an atmosphere like a maze, with only a few spots of light being able to pass. And on the ground beneath, something similar is happening because of the dark shades that are created. After a while, your eyes start to adapt and see depth that might not even be there.
In a way the tree created its own space, and taken together, it is not bigger than a house. It is open to step in and out on all sides, but it feels like the tree’s own local universe, which is only a few meters in real-life proportions but endless when you let yourself drift through it and let yourself grab on to all the details. Variations in light and dark, variations in color, variations in texture, wet and dry.
I am fond of painting these living, natural places that are impossible to grasp in full detail. In this painting I used both cool colors, like blue and violet, and warm colors, like yellow and orange, to create both light and dark spots. The two color groups gently contradict each other, allowing you to get lost in this painting, just as I did when being at this place. To hold some grip, the deep green of the moss provided a solid ground on the trunk and branches, but also the floor beneath. In the trunk and the branches, this made it come toward you, while on the ground beneath the tree, the deep green makes it go further to the back.
The structure of the painting is grounded in direct observation. The use of color is the result of direct experience with the tree. But all together, it is the result of spending time in a single place in nature and allowing yourself to feel the endless possibilities that it presents.
