This palette knife painting, Beautiful Chaos, is part of an on going series I call "Reeding Between the Lines" 16 x 26 oil on panel done in April 2019. This is the biggest one from this series so far. This, and several paintings in this collection, are based on many recent visits to Sweetwater Wetlands park. The grasses and reeds there are diverse and inspiring. The form, composition and color of the grasses vary from black to gold with every color and shade of green in between. The sweeping,curved lines created by the growth patterns, the movement in the breezes and the light are mesmerizing to me. There is order and chaos at the same time. One of my early influences in art was the the Art Nouveau movement. I have always been interested in recreating beautiful curved lines found in nature. Line, Color, and texture are part of driving force of this series. But it's also very much about the process. I look at this landscape and think "how would I paint that for the Reed Series? What color layers come first? What will I carve back to. How will I get the effect of the grass I want?  If you look at the close up views you will see there is a lot of carving back to the lower layers in the painting. The layers must be planed and executed in order so that I know what I'm carving back to. I this case, and in most of the painting in this series, I'm carving back to black and gold metal leaf. This idea came from the color of the Broom Sedge. At certain times of year the color is golden yellow to an orange yellow.

This is the final painting. It was done on a cradled wood panel and supported on the back by stretcher bars attached to the panel to keep it form warping and to float it off the wall. Framing is not necessary. I add a black line around the outside edge give a finished "frame" effect. However, I also do this so if you want to frame it the actual paint will not be impacted by the frame. The black line will be hidden by the frame rabbet

This painting is available on my website

This picture was taken in mixed natural and led light

This picture was taken in mixed florescent and natural light with a pixel 3a

This picture was taken in mixed florescent and natural light with a pixel 3a

This picture was taken in mixed florescent and natural light with a pixel 3a

It is impossible to adjust the colors of a painting to all the screens involved with getting the image on the web. I find that the truest colors come from viewing on my ipad. But the colors on all screes seem to appear more or less saturated than the true colors. The colors will also change with the lighting in your room depending on the time of day and light source.