AUTUMN INTROSPECTION
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
FALL 2021

     Fall’s arrival is usually signaled by the brilliantly colored foliage of the trees and the arrival of winter resident birds like geese, swans, and juncos.  However, in recent years, and especially this year, the trees have not lived up to expectations, and browns have replaced the typical red and yellow hues.  Spring and summer were even drier than usual, and the extreme heat event in June caused the trees to shut down their photosynthesis early.  This prevented other pigments from forming and thus explains our subdued autumn colors.  The prediction is that this will become the new norm and provides more evidence of climatic change in the Pacific Northwest.  This painting is my attempt to mark this new autumn normal.  A Japanese textile pattern (seen in Mamoru Fujioka’s Japanese Style: Textile Design Patterns 1, ©1989 ) inspired me to do a background wash underlying the painting.  The design for the junco was influenced by both Northwest Coast Native and Celtic art traditions.  I made the frame out of red oak using pegged, hand-joined, mortise-and-tenon construction methods.  I used the Japanese technique (shou-sugi-ban) of charring and oiling the oak to finish the frame.
 
DIMENSIONS:          HEIGHT:  17 3/8 inches
                                  WIDTH:  22 inches

                                                          PRICE $530

Japanese textile design that inspired me