Through the Thicket

Medium: Acrylic on canvas panel
Size: 8X10 inches
Location: Guadalupe River State Park, Texas
Year: 2024

This piece captures a layered, partially hidden view of water seen through a stand of trees—branches cutting across the composition like a natural screen. Painted on location, the scene leans into that feeling of discovery: not a wide-open vista, but a moment glimpsed from just the right angle.

The muted greens of the water and grass create a quiet, almost still atmosphere, while the darker tree trunks and branches bring structure and movement across the surface. The contrast between the calm water and the restless lines of the trees gives the painting a sense of tension and balance—stillness interrupted.

Created en plein air, this work preserves the immediacy of observation—the quick decisions, shifting light, and the subtle challenge of painting through something rather than directly at it.