Gothic Forest 1980

Eyvind Earle made this painting, Gothic Forest, with the kind of color that just sings. It's not about realism; it's about feeling. I love how Earle applies color like little jewels, almost pointillist, across the rounded forms of the trees, turning the whole forest into a shimmering, almost abstract pattern. Look at the trunk of the tree on the left - it's a kaleidoscope of blues, pinks, and greens. It doesn’t look like any tree I know. It’s like he’s saying, “Here’s what a tree feels like, not just what it looks like.” Earle was doing something similar to what Milton Avery was up to, simplifying forms and amplifying color to get at the essence of a scene. It's all about process, letting the paint lead, and not being afraid to bend reality. Art, like a good forest, is a place for the unexpected, a place to get wonderfully lost.