“Still Life with Mimosa” contemporary figurative painting. acrylic on canvas. 30 in x 24 in.

“Still Life with Mimosa” contemporary figurative painting.

I intended to paint a formal still life of a branch of a mimosa tree.  Then I got to thinking about painting a landscape of mimosa trees in front of rusty boxcars.  I thought about how I needed to get out of the basement and paint naturalistic images, if only to improve my skills.  Certainly, the flowering mimosa trees in front of rusty red boxcars would be a striking composition with the contrast of the red background and the cool green in front.  And the pink blossoms could be painted with the same red as the boxcars, only lightened a bit by blending with white.  It would be a strong image painted using only three or four colors.  The more I thought about it, the more excited I got.  I got so excited that I forgot to get in the car, and before I knew it I was painting.

I can’t describe the shear joy of painting.  It makes me remember how excited I would get as a little kid when my birthday would come around.