At 6x5 feet, "Blackberry Hill" was commissioned to connect a family who moved to Arizona to their former home in Los Gatos, California. My provenance letter to my clients best explain the emotion that lies within the narrative:
"As is not unusual in anything commission based, the work took a detour towards the end of the project. Although I’ve followed my photographic reference quite closely, I felt the greyish hues at the bottom of the color panel didn’t quite reflect the warmth I feel for you as a family. To this extent, the grey deviated towards a violet muddied with indigo. The result being a little more emotive and I believe appealing, too.
Speaking of emotion, Sunday is one of the best days of the week. It conjures thoughts of lazy mornings and chilled afternoons, which is one of the reasons why the color palette sits so well with this word. “Blackberry” is sweet purple and therefor the visual narrative is pulled together with words and colors sitting together harmoniously. In addition to this, the mauve tones in the bottom half of the “Pantone” manifest thoughts of sunset - which is true of 5.50pm in late March.
Conceptually, the sun was setting on your Los Gatos life (for now anyway) as you embark on a new life in the desert - as though Sunday becomes Monday and looking forward to fresh starts.
This six by five foot painting is the first time I’ve worked at this scale. It demands a large wall with plenty of white space around it. The position you’ve set aside for this art is perfect, just above your dinner table - a place where family and friends create new memories. As you know from my video updates, the oils were applied in many colors over many layers. This will make the painting become alive in different lighting conditions throughout the day. No two times of the day will look the same - which is exactly the ephemeral nature of the sky.
My vision for this piece is that it will bring the outside, inside - like having a large open window that lets in color, but doesn’t let in that hot desert heat.
I look forward to sundowners in the not too distant future and seeing this work again in person.
It’s bitter letting this one go. But sweet knowing whose home it’s going to.