Thunderstorms

Summer is not my favorite season. For me, the highlight of summer is thunderstorms. I love lying in bed, total darkness except for the flashes of lightning, the wind causing the curtains to billow into the room and the sound of rain on the gutters and ground. The sound of the rain pounding on the metal roof at the studio is even better.

A powerful storm moved through in the early hours of the morning taking with it the electricity at the studio. I've painted in the dark before, no reason to break my routine due to lack of light. A perfect opportunity to play with my paint, using extreme colors calculating the mixes in my head and making sure the values worked. Even after the electricity came back on I continued to play. As much as I have enjoyed working on the Road Series, I have also felt restricted by working representationally and focusing on relatively realistic atmospheric conditions.

One of the benefits of painting a series is that after having solved many of the common problems presented by the series, I can't help but veer off in another direction that usually suggests a fresh approach and ultimately stronger work.