New Light in the North ©Kesler Woodward 2011 Acrylic on canvas 24" x 36"
I have been confronting again lately something I have faced before, and have talked about briefly in previous posts on this site--how little conscious choice I seem to have over what I paint. I have a solo show opening next month at Christa Faut Gallery in North Carolina, which will be titled Kesler Woodward: The Forest and the Trees. I have plenty of new paintings for the show, of course, but I always want to do more, and I had thought for the past couple of months that I should work on some Southern trees, to go along with the Alaska birches and boreal forest I normally paint. So I've tried again and again to paint some of the Southern trees I love--sycamores, longleaf pines, beeches and oaks.
No dice. I don't lose--give up on--many paintings these days, but over the last month and a half I've put in countless hours on new paintings of Southern trees, and have nothing worthy to show for it. I've been banging my head, and hands, against a proverbial wall. It's not what I want to be painting, and no amount of work or determination will change it. I will paint Southern trees again--maybe after the February trip to my show. But not now.
Instead, I go out every day into the great boreal forest of Interior Alaska that surrounds my home, and I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of the light. I cross-country ski from my back door onto a neighborhood trail nearly every winter day, from October through March. Some days it's very cold. I skied every day a few weeks ago when it was between 30 and 40 below zero, plenty warm once I got moving, though I did lightly frostbite a couple of fingertips one day, taking snapshots with my iPhone's camera of light on the Alaska Range, along the southern horizon.
I'm not sure it's possible to be happy here, if you don't get out of doors often in the just over 3 1/2 hours of daylight we have each day in late December and early January. So nearly every day, I take a break from my studio in the early afternoon and ski into the brief, wan, but absolutely gorgeous light. It is, I'm convinced, the most beautiful, ethereal light of the year, and you only get to see it if you're out in the deep cold, out in the stillness that surrounds the winter Solstice in the far North.
This first painting of 2011 is looking out from the woods, on my trail, at the new year's light. There's new light in the North for me, and I hope there's light for you and yours, as well, wherever you are. Happy New Year.
Lovely art work...seem to keep missing seeing it in a gallery here near Augusta GA..missed your show in Aiken and I see you had one in Charlotte...maybe one day...I first saw your work in the Morris Corporate collection a few years ago and then today again in the Morris Museum. Enthralled with your trees - small world - was married to an Aiken boy - Dickie Hunt! Heard the wild tail of the tree sinking into the old well as you two climbed it. Funny - I guess trees have a long love affair in your life:>! As I said one day I will get to one of your shows when they again appear near here!
Posted by: Margaret Hunt | March 13, 2011 at 04:37 PM
Stunning, as per usual. Please be careful out there! I don't want to hear any lost digit stories from taking photos.
I'll have to see if Dave's family lives anywhere near the gallery in NC. I will encourage them to make the trip to see your work.
Posted by: val lord | January 19, 2011 at 05:39 PM
Great sky... Maybe the warm power of the northern sky in mid-winter stems from the black, blue and white landscape; simultaneous contrast for the spirit.
Posted by: Bill Brody | January 13, 2011 at 07:08 PM
Thank you Kes, Light is warmer there than here but may well be an attribute of the beholder. Your painting is breathtaking, ethereal, and "other worldly", as the commentary seems to imply? What a gift to be able to enjoy your painting and commentary in the middle of my erstwhile humdrum day. Love to all at your house. Susan
Posted by: Susan Egan | January 12, 2011 at 09:03 AM
I love the picture the sorty and Alaska looking forward to someday seeing the winter light
Posted by: Ilene Augenlicht | January 12, 2011 at 05:36 AM
oooo LOVELY! You've managed to warm up the frozen North :o)
Posted by: cindy shake | January 11, 2011 at 09:58 PM
This takes my breath away! - Lyn
Posted by: Lynn Bryant | January 11, 2011 at 04:38 PM
I'm fighting with the title: "New Light in the North." With its vivid colors, silhouetted spruce and steeply angled cloud banks it looks nearly post-apocalyptic. Stunning, but unnerving.
On the other hand, I'm glad to see a strong argument for predestination in your text. Nevertheless, good luck with the show down south, however it is meant to turn out.
Posted by: Robert Hannon | January 11, 2011 at 12:53 PM
Beautiful warm sky, Kes! I am happy, happy, happy for you on so many levels. Fondly, Michele
Posted by: Michele Usibelli | January 11, 2011 at 12:46 PM