Come Forth Into the Light of Things

Come Forth Into the Light of Things, 12"x9", mixed-media, 2013

Sometimes naming is the hardest part of finishing a painting. With this one I knew I was done when I came across this line from a William Wordsworth poem, "Come forth into the light of things, let Nature be your teacher."

My painting was made earlier this month during a stereotypical late spring/early summer in Seattle. Yep, that means plenty of rain. The resulting greenness here is INTENSE. I mean that in terms of both color and smell.

The lushness and infinite variety of color contained in a towering, sticky sap-dripping tree, the soft dusty green of a sage plant, or freshly sprouted stalk of grass are so utterly distracting that I’m frequently in danger of running off the road. What would I tell the police officer looking for answers, that I was driving while intoxicated?

Have you smelled green? It’s the tang of the wind blown (blue green) evergreen branch, the just brushed against musty (brown green) of a sword fern, or the nose stinging (yellow green) of freshly cut grass.

Green sounds differently too. It's softer. No clicking of branch on branch. No skittering of dry leaves across the sidewalk. There is just a verdant rustle. 

Then out comes the sun and with it an entirely new range of colors. That’s when I really get pulled forth into the light of things.