Rearview Radiance

Here in Alaska, we’re blessed with an abundance of natural beauty. River, lakes, mountains and valleys. However, the sky above also provides us with an endless supply of wonder, whether it’s the Aurora Borealis, a sunrise or a magical sunset. It seems like every season of the year feature something just a little different.

During the fall, we often get an abundance of beautiful sunrises and sunsets. One morning this past September was one such day. On my way to dropping my son off at school, we experienced this beautiful sunrise through our rearview mirrors. He was able to snap a photo of it. By the time I had dropped him off, the moment had passed.

That photo became the reference for this painting, Rearview Radiance. It attempts to capture the breathtaking beauty of this cool morning, with the red, oranges and yellows announcing the arrival of yet another day while the darkness ahead, just beyond the tree line, captures the receding night, soon to be overtaken by day.

This was also my first attempt at painting on black paper. It’s a very different experience in that the black background changes the dynamic of how you paint. The black color impacts the colors you out on paper very differently than white paper, but also provides an interesting opportunity to not paint the black areas of the paper. There are also interesting opportunities to explore contrasts between light and dark quite a bit more.