Shadows

Sometimes a painting needs rest. That is, I complete a piece but find it unsatisfying. Something needs to be added or subtracted, but what? So I put the work away, behind something else or in a stack of dry works. Eventually it comes back to light, having rested wherever, and I discover somethng to try out.  

"Bike Trail, Gray's Lake," oil on panel, 9x12

This small painting was initially made outdoors along a bicycle trail not far from my home studio. There is a city thoroughfare beside the park--that level green edge just below mid-painting. The walking/biking trail winds around the lake, to the rear of the viewer. The near-abstract patterns and how to evoke multiple layers of depth were a couple of my considerations. So I finished a literal rendering, took it home and then sent it away to rest. Not long ago I came across it and added brighter and more saturated lights and even a few scattered bright dots. I like this result.