In this painting, I wanted you to you to experience the wonderment of looking up into the treetops – just like you did when you were a kid. Lying on the ground, not a care in the world, you gaze in curiously without a care in the world as the clouds drift by. Choosing playful colors and thick chunky staccato strokes to add to that childlike whimsy. I hope you are transported back to a happy, carefree time and place.

Painted with extremely thick oil paint and palette knives so that this canvas is loaded with texture and bursting with color, flickering autumn leaves seem to almost dance in a gentle breeze. I wanted this landscape to be filled with movement and vivacity, so I incorporated a lot of diagonal and curving shapes in the design to suggest that feeling. Contrasting short staccato strokes against blended passages with my palette knives, also increase that sense of motion. One zig zag passage of crimson foliage creates a focal point in the tangle of leaves and turnks while adding energy to the scene. I hope you, too, can feel the excitement of walking through the woods on a beautiful fall day, letting your cares slip away and your spirit being invigorated.

I find being immersed in nature can have such an uplifting effect, and I wanted to share that feeling with you in October Rhythms. I chose pure, intense reds and yellows contrasted against autumn golds and chocolates to create an fall forest that vibrates with color, energy and sound. The repetition in the aspen trunks and foliage patterns, combined with the flickering tones of the breeze rustling the leaves reminded me of a symphony in the forest so I titled this painting October Rhythms.