Fire Creek No.5

I really should be writing these as soon as the painting is completed; life has been happening way too fast. Thankfully, even though the last couple months were a blur of working, I still remember much of the feelings of the art I have yet to publish pages on.

Fire Creek No. 5 holds a place in my heart visually. This was the last of the Fire Creek paintings created at the Lost Lake parking lot along Chuckanut Drive. This painting was literally a 45-degree turn to the left from the previous painting. I saw the ferns and the way the light played off them and knew I wanted to paint it.

Funny enough, the piece didn’t go as planned at all and brought up a lot of self-doubt, which is funny in retrospect. I’ve been in this position many times and still don’t trust the process. And that’s perhaps why the piece ended up so different visually. Much more graphic with my introduction of red into my pieces, the major additions toward the end were out of desperation and indecision, but led to a place I wouldn’t have ever ended up as a result. The feeling of not liking what you’re doing, but continuing to pour time and effort into it doesn’t always pay off, but certainly did here.

This feels like where I’d like to steer my work: much more graphically leaning, harsh and subtle, graphic and natural, cool and warm. Derived from that experience and location, it’s a fun idea thinking I can steer my work, when the reality is life is doing so for me.