Season 19 felt like I was comfortable enough to experiment. Not radically, but enough to trust myself trying different compositions, different moods, and color temperatures. I wasn’t thinking about whether something would work anymore…I was just making choices and executing them.
Favorite: Ebb Tide (E9) The sky and ocean are in conversation with one another and the drama above is reflected in the water below. It’s the first ocean painting where the water is far away instead of close. That distance changed everything about the mood.
Least Favorite: Winter Elegance (E11) It’s executed well and the composition is clean and the sky is nice. But it felt like I was playing it safe and after Waterfall in the Woods, I wanted something more challenging and Winter Elegance felt like a step back into comfort.
Learned the Most From: Waterfall in the Woods (E6) I’ve painted water hundreds of times and suddenly understood it differently in this one. Everything I do with water now starts with what that waterfall taught me.
