Winter Oak 1999

Eyvind Earle made this "Winter Oak" painting, and I can imagine him building up these cool gray layers, letting them dry, and then adding the black and tiny details on top. I love how the artist made marks that capture the starkness of winter. It reminds me of Agnes Martin's delicate lines, but with an illustrative twist. I wonder if he looked at Japanese prints. That big dark tree looms over the little trees. I wonder if Earle was thinking about the cycle of life, or the way nature takes over, always changing. Maybe he was thinking about how even in the dead of winter, there’s still beauty and life hanging on. It’s like he’s in a conversation with all the other painters who’ve tried to capture the magic of the seasons. Painting is like that, a big conversation across time, where we all get to add our own little bit.