I wanted to create a natural window in this painting. It is similar in
nature to the hole in the tree in an earlier painting titled Haunting
Delicate and Serene." I like these openings for one fairly simple
reason: They allow me to "fill in" the otherwise obstructed picture
information. And, since there is no physical continuation of
background picture information on either side of the opening, it is
always enjoyable to paint these enclosed areas as if the information
were contiguous. More than this, they draw attention to themselves.
Openings by their very nature suggest more than the openings
themselves. Another way of saying this is that they make us wonder
about what lies beyond them. "What will it be like to pass through
it?" we may ask ourselves. The dictionary defines "opening" as: "an
act or instance of beginning." This definition "opens up" a whole
world of possibility. And as we look to the future we must also
realize we are as much a part of the journey as we are the path
leading out into the open. We too must be open to all that is open to
us.