16x20” / Oil on stretched canvas / Pine float frame
I often find my eyes wandering to the ground or the sky for inspiration — I’ve never been much of a “look straight ahead” walker. This scene is from the bog near my house; I was struck by the mixed texture of the leaves and the range of yellow- to blue- greens.
For many years I’ve been fascinated by the idea of “boundary layers” — the small layer of air that hugs surfaces, like leaves. This space functions as its own microclimate. Where does one thing end and another begin? On smaller and smaller scales, the delineation seems to blur.
From a technical standpoint, this painting was an experiment in using cool and warm colors to create visual sense out of a scene of dense foliage. Except for the gray areas, this painting is made with only two colors: Phthalo Green and Transparent Orange.
References
Plant paintings by David Dibble.
“The meeting ground between air and land is known as the boundary layer. Every surface, be it as small as a leaf or as large as a hill, possesses a boundary layer.” - Gathering Moss, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
“Things that are good have a certain kind of structure. You can’t get that structure except dynamically. Period. In nature you’ve got continuous very small feedback loop adaptation going on, which is why things get to be harmonious…If it wasn’t for the time dimension, it wouldn’t happen.” - How Buildings Learn, by Stewart Brand
16x20” / Oil on stretched canvas / Pine float frame
I often find my eyes wandering to the ground or the sky for inspiration — I’ve never been much of a “look straight ahead” walker. This scene is from the bog near my house; I was struck by the mixed texture of the leaves and the range of yellow- to blue- greens.
For many years I’ve been fascinated by the idea of “boundary layers” — the small layer of air that hugs surfaces, like leaves. This space functions as its own microclimate. Where does one thing end and another begin? On smaller and smaller scales, the delineation seems to blur.
From a technical standpoint, this painting was an experiment in using cool and warm colors to create visual sense out of a scene of dense foliage. Except for the gray areas, this painting is made with only two colors: Phthalo Green and Transparent Orange.
References
Plant paintings by David Dibble.
“The meeting ground between air and land is known as the boundary layer. Every surface, be it as small as a leaf or as large as a hill, possesses a boundary layer.” - Gathering Moss, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
“Things that are good have a certain kind of structure. You can’t get that structure except dynamically. Period. In nature you’ve got continuous very small feedback loop adaptation going on, which is why things get to be harmonious…If it wasn’t for the time dimension, it wouldn’t happen.” - How Buildings Learn, by Stewart Brand
