Heart of the Earth

I had originally titled this piece Enduring Wild, but then when I was framing it to get it ready for the Collected and Gathered exhibit at Lark and Key Gallery, I noticed writing in the bottom grass. I remembered that I had inscribed writing into the wax while I was painting it. It is hard to read, but because I wrote it, the words came back to me: winter lays bare the heart of the earth.

The inspiration of this painting comes from a frosty morning when I was walking my dog, when what was left of the full foliage were bare branches and brambles of wildness. I thought it was so beautiful. And while this isn’t a typical winter scene of barren trees and white snow fields that really lays bare the heart of the earth…it still felt to me that it did lay bare the heart of the earth.

I added a piece of wood to the bottom of this encaustic painting to give it that extra earthiness that I love so much.