Forest School 2023 No.4

Abstract landscape, 12 x 12 x 1.5 inches, acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas.

“Forest School Series”
A redwood grove is a sacred place, but when you visit with young children it becomes magical. These gentle giants offer endless enthralling play spaces in their fairy rings and stumps, amidst all the shed sticks and ferny underbrush. This primal environment heightens tactile sensory awareness and sparks the imagination - play becomes simultaneously both concrete and fleeting. I tried to capture this by leaving some of the fundamental strokes of the paintings exposed, yet adding gestural details that move you around the canvas in a nonlinear fashion. The saturated contrasting colors echo the unfettered energy of young children at play.

When not painting, I teach forest school in an early childhood education program.