Horse Creek Cottonwoods

Paint communicates things visually that words are unable to say eloquently or concisely. In this scene the viewer can clearly see the multiple layers of distance as featured in a close-foreground, back-foreground, a close-middle ground, distant-middle ground and distant background with light and shadow variations that include a strong back-light. The late fall/early winter landscape that the painting portrays features a stunning single cottonwood at the back of the foreground that leads us toward a grove of cottonwood trees in a nearly bare state. These trees as displayed by nature as a curtained entrance into the forest, which is partially opened to bring the viewer into a breath-taking distant middle ground. The cold of the snowy foreground is minimizes by the sunlit spotlight that appears through the opening between the trees, illuminating a breath-taking stand of aspen trees still in their full glory, that feels warm and inviting. The backlight crowns the mountain range behind the forest and is utilized to push the space farther back in the distance. As you’ll note, the picture is worth a 1000 words.