Autumn Dance

Autumn Dance

30 x30"

oil on canvas
© Nicki Ault, 2011 

I began this one last November and then life got crazy so it was put away. I pulled it out in January and spent more time working on it. It's almost done- in fact I thought it was, but now that I see it on the computer screen there may be a few spots I want to tweak. I wanted to paint this old tree with a lot of expression. I wanted it to look like it was dancing; celebrating really. The tree I used as reference is on my street. We live in a very old part of town- my house will be 100 in a few years- so the trees lining the street are old and glorious. This particular tree is huge, the bark is old and weathered and deeply grooved. This tree has seen a lot in it's day. There was another larger tree beside it on the other side of my neighbor's driveway. For some reason the City decided both trees were diseased and planned to remove them. They took the larger tree down... and it was perfectly fine. Despite this fact, they still wanted to take the other tree down. I think it all had more to do with liabilities and insurance- if anything ever happened in a storm and part of the tree came down it would do some damage. Anyway, a neighborhood protest saved the second tree and it remains on our street as a piece of history.

I had fun with a bit of photo cropping and found little paintings within the painting. Here are some detail shots:

As I look at this piece I don't think it has the feel of looking up the tree that I initially had hoped for. I'm trying to decide if I am okay with that or not. I think the lesson learned is that a rectangular canvas might help me better create that type of effect as I have done in the past with "Looking Up" and "Backlit Birch". 

This is a photo I took of the remaining tree last year when I was shooting some reference pictures. My 6 year old son is showing the width of the trunk. Amazing. 

Old Friend- Tree in Progress

 Old Friend  
(in progress)

 24 x 36"

acrylic on canvas

I began a painting last Friday and continued working on it today. I have been wanting to tackle another tree from a low perspective looking up. I tried it in "Autumn Dance" and it was never what I wanted it to be- in fact it is now facing the wall at the studio. It could have been the square format on that piece that really threw me off. At any rate I am trying it on a rectangular canvas and it feels much better... plus this time I am painting a Birch tree... and using acrylics.

When I was at Waskesiu Lake with my family on the Labour Day long weekend, I went for an evening walk with the purpose of taking resource photos to use this winter. As I wandered along a trail behind the Nature Centre I was looking up at all of the gorgeous Birches. I glanced at this beautiful tree to my right and without as much as a nano-second of hesitation I thought, "Well, hello old friend!" As I stared at the tree wondering why it seemed so familiar, I realized it was the same tree I painted in "Looking Up" two years ago! I had long forgotten where that tree was, but the instant I saw it again I knew we had "met" before.

Rustle

Rustle

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2016

sold

I had time to get to the studio for a couple of hours or so yesterday. I was terribly exhausted, but all of that was soon forgotten as I delved into another small exploration of fall colour and foliage. While I painted this I kept imagining the gentle prairie winds rustling the autumn leaves and making the colours dance. My plan is to spend the day today at the studio working on a larger version of these recent studies. Time to play!