The Dawning of Summer Solstice

I have been painting forest scenes as altar pieces ever since moving to Arden, DE, eight years ago.  My inspiration for this series has been a combination of living on the edge of Sherwood Forest, hiking every Sunday with my hiking group Strange Adventures (it has become our sabbath) and traveling to Italy several times over the last 6 years and seeing many, I mean many, churches and altarpieces. The very first forest altarpiece painting I painted was COLONNADE in 2015. Colonnade is an abstracted winter scene similar to what I see out our front window. I wanted to bring the rhythms of nature into our living room as a reminder never to turn away from the lessons of the natural world. It was painted specifically for our new home. One day a friend, forest maven Carol Larson, saw it and asked if I rotate that painting out with the seasons. That got me thinking. It was almost a challenge. And so I started on a summer scene. (At least I could rotate my paintings every six months.) This painting took me a year to complete; I took it out, worked on it, and put it away for long spells. But eventually, SOLSTICE became the summer edition of what I hope to be a series featuring all four seasons. You can sign up to win a 16’ x 12” metal print (ready to hang) of SOLSTICE by checking out my new website and entering to win though June 4, 2021.