Using Trees to Transition from Sky to Water

A challenge in the 50 Years of Our Flag painting has been to transition from scene to scene without seams. Such transitions can be creatively accomplished with even a little bit of humour – even if it is meteorological humour.

Making the connection between the summer copse and the early fall sail boat was more of an accident than a carefully contrived plan. I was painting along one afternoon and I noticed that the reflection of the sailboat was tinted green due to the colour of the water. The shape of the shadow was already bowed by the current in the water. It was a short step from the green shape of the shadow to the bough of a tree. The words describing each even sound the same.