The Tree

3x3ft, Mason Board

This painting communicates with the viewer on many levels. 

On the first level note that the tree is cut at an odd angle almost as if it will have roots and grow again. This painting is about the possibilities of nature transforming and recreating itself.

On the second level, the tree shows the life that it supported. There are chipmunks playing around the trunk. Leaves create a layered perspective and transform into butterfly wings. 

On a third level, I create a shifting and alternate reality. This work is an example of how an artist can use their imagination and take artistic license to paint things that do not exist. Like butterfly wings and leaves that have eyes painted on them. This reality might seem like imagination to the viewer but for the artist it is their reality as they create the painting. 

Eyes form a recurring theme throughout all the years that I have been painting and drawing. I will unexpectedly put eyes almost anywhere in an artwork. This obsession started when I was a teenager and continues till this day, there is no counting the number of paintings where eyes make an entry.

My own eyes help me make the paintings after carefully observing everything around me all of the time. There is never a moment in my day that I am not observing and looking around to see if I can find inspiration. This scouting is like being a detective hunting for clues.

I look at the magic all around me, the light, the shadow, the colour, the texture and the shape that gives my life meaning. I am obsessed with observing all the time. If there is a little movement, I will see it, be it an insect or individual falling raindrops!

When people speak to me I carefully observe them with extra focus on their eyes while hearing their words. My focus is very deep as I look and I listen without interrupting. My observation is so strong that it is difficult to hide things from me. Just the tone of voice or glance will tell me a person’s story.  And sometimes that story becomes a painting…