2010
private collection
My buddy Chris and I went for a hike to Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegeon, MI this Summer and saw some great spots. One of the best things about walking out there on the dunes is seeing the rapid changes of environments. You walk through transitions from Beech and Maple woods to Pines, to Dune grasses and finally Lake Michigan. This view is from walking up the steep sand through Maple woods and seeing the Pines ahead, knowing you were getting closer to the Lake.
I revised this painting about a year and a half later. It's original state was so raw and to me unfinished and in the time between painting sessions I learned a lot about working with a dried, thickly impastoed painting surface. I scraped the high points off and sanded the image and began to paint into it again, making the colors richer with a wider variety of hues.