Crab Apple Double Take Diptych

$300.00 Acrylic on 2-16"w x 12"h canvases
Click on image above to enlarge.
Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

The last painting in my crab apple series for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery. This diptych has a nice motion to it, almost a wave like quality. According to my Minnesota math, there are 48 berries on the branches. Not sure the significance of the number, but I thought I'd count the berries anyway. :) This painting is unique in it's scale, I don't remember working on such a horizontal scale before, so I find myself viewing this piece differently, almost spending more time taking it in vs. my usual vertical scale. Working in this exaggerated landscape proportion has me thinking about other landscapes to paint, perhaps lake scenes and prairies ... oh, the many ideas I have ... Yesterday I dropped off all my pieces for the show to Blue Lake Gallery, and today I'm already prepping canvases for my next show. That will be six weeks from now, but I will continue to post individual works from my Tremendous Trees show here on my blog during the next several weeks, please stop back often! -A

Tiny Crab Apple Triptych

$60.00 Acrylic on 3-3"w x 3"h canvases
Click on image above to enlarge.
Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

Yet another in my crab apple series for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery. These canvases are fun to display on a shelf, or hang on the wall. I prefer hanging them on a wall as they no doubt grab people's attention due to their small size, yet thick profile canvases. I had fun working with the backgrounds in this crab apple series. From deep cobalt blue to bright ultramarine blue, the skies behind the apples have rich depth of texture and color. I keep finding myself drawn to the background ... the bright red berries have been a great subject matter and it looks like I have one more crab apple work to share before I continue with other pieces from my Tremendous Trees show.

Skyward

Acrylic on 20"w x 16"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$250.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

Yet another in my crab apple series for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery. The sun is the central feature of the composition, and yet the sun is the farthest object. The sun has appeared in many of the paintings in this show, and I'm still working out why. With art, many times deeper inner meaning is found at a much later date, and I have a feeling the reason for the brightness will be illuminated in the future. My first guess is it has to do with lighting dark areas of my life, but I'm not so sure. In my mind I've seen images of the sun consuming the entire composition with golden brilliance. Perhaps such images will appear on canvas, but for now they are etched into my mind and heart. And for now, it's back to prepping, wiring, and signing canvases. The show is coming soon! So are the crab apple buds that will yield to trees loaded with bright red apples ... a feast for the eyes, the birds, and the artists who love the taste of crab apple jelly on toast ... like me :)

Crab Apple Harvest

Acrylic on 8"w x 10"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$65.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

Another in my crab apple series for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth. The depth of blues in this crab apple series makes them so visually interesting that after a while I don't focus on the branches or berries ... but on the background. The longer you view my work, I hope you will see the background and it's thousands of shades. The layers provide a glimpse into how I see images. They are comprised of layers of color and texture. There is more than meets the eye. There are more paintings to be completed for my show. Back to the easel I go ...

Crab Apple Cocktail

Acrylic on 8"w x 10"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$65.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

Another in my crab apple series for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth. I'm just lovin' how the red and blue compliment each other. I could be wrong, but maybe that's why they are called complimentary colors. I may be going out on a limb by saying that. Anyway, this piece leads your eye from the top left corner down the branch to the right corner, then the apples lead you around and back up to the top left again. A simple little path through the piece that gives it movement and balance. I have a few more crab apple paintings to upload before I switch back to landscapes ... can't wait to share those! Many feature the sun and moon and bright sunrises and sunsets. Life is good. :)

Crab Apple Blast

Acrylic on 10"w x 8"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$65.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

Last November I took at least 50 photos of a crab apple tree in Bemidji, MN that had dropped it's leaves but still had the colorful red apples on it's branches. (I'm wrestling with whether or not 'its' should have an apostrophe or not at the moment ... if you are an english lit. teacher please bear with me) :) I've painted several new works along this crab apple theme for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth. My daughter Autumn titled this piece 'Crab Apple Blast' as she viewed it as a blast of wind moving the apple.

This particular painting was inspired by a lone crab apple branch and fruit that was etched into my memory. I was so amazed at the thought of the apple hanging onto the branch while the wind blew hard against it that I just had to paint it. There are times in life when you feel as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders and all you can do is just hang on ... and I was encouraged by this little guy fighting the odds ... funny how so little an apple can captivate a soul. I went back into my photo collection to find the reference photo long after the painting was signed and completed and I was amazed at how similar the image in my memory was to the reference photo I never looked at when I was painting this piece. The mind and memory can be a powerful thing.