Prevailing Winds is one of a group of paintings expressing the sense of being in a low place viewing a high horizon line. Honestly, I don’t think too much about the origin of most paintings before I begin, but afterwards I try to reflect on the why of it all.
One image from childhood surfaces in my memory rather frequently. It’s the picture of having been sent by my parents down the hill to one of the poultry barns on our Central Texas farm to do a chore. It would be right at sundown, and having completed the chore, I would walk back up the rutted, rocky hill to the house toward dark but friendly silhouettes, background bathed in the setting sun’s glow.
The multiple trees in this painting come simply from my love of pattern. Certainly not from a childhood memory, because there are seldom that many trees together in a row in that part of Texas, at least not in natural settings. Commonplace though, especially in regions farther west, is the leaning of trees shaped by wind and weather. The place in this painting really doesn’t exist except on this canvas. I have no intention of depicting specificity. I am simply creating objects that express something for me.
Prevailing Winds is a small piece, only 24″ x 8″, painted with acrylics and mixed media on gallery-wrapped canvas. The textures, crusty and random, form the underlying structure. Earthy golds, rusts, and greens are accented with metallic gold, all bathed in a final layer of ecru, gold, and red splatters. Visit Gallery: Small Works to see Prevailing Winds as it might look in a home or office.
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Laura Hunt, Artist 