Regeneration: Aspen, A Hospital Commission

The first stage of my painting, "Regeneration:Fire"
The background has been painted yellow, then the image painted in  black 

The flames have been developed, but the log is, as yet, undefined by color.

This is the completed oil painting, 32" X 32".
Glowing embers  of the log are now defined, and the flames have been
 softened and colors more differentiated.

 A challenging commission was offered to me some months ago by Noyes Art Designs: to paint an image of aspen trees for a new hospital. I had seen so many cliched and formulaic paintings of aspens, with no emotional or intellectual slant of the subject. A vow had been taken never to paint that subject. So my choice was to say,"No", or to find a way to connect to this subject.

Could I find a path into this subject which respected to hospital's criteria, yet made aspens exciting to me? Perhaps I had been too quick to reject this subject, responding too reactively to how other artists had depicted it? I needed to do some research, and thanks to the internet, I quickly found a wealth of information.  For example, aspens, which look so fragile and delicate, are the largest plant on our planet, with many of the trees which grow around one another being connected by their roots, all part of the same plant. My reading led me process of regeneration, of destruction by fire, and re-growth.

I proposed a series of four canvases, beginning with "Fire", and my proposal was accepted. Here is the first of  the series.