TUÌ CHORUS

Sunrise Hymnal

TUÌ CHORUS, Triptych, Oil on canvas, 36x54”

Focus - on every next step....

My eyes adjust to the dim light on the lower track of Mt Holdsworth and I don’t want to lose footing. I hit a good pace, racing the rising sun. I’m in the dark of the bush for a while.. as gentle light aids my sight, I know I won’t make the Hut for sunrise. I will be in the trees. I keep my pace. 

A distinct tui trill rises into treetops growing into song. The call bounces through the bush and dissolves my solitude. From a remote height in the distance, a response rings out. The initiating bird repeats his song, clear and strong. Another calls back in repetition. From every direction, from every dimension, the chorus grows in voice and volume, a Sunrise Forum.  The roundtable of tui lifts a unified voice as council. Their song envelops the forest and in it, me. 

Interloper and witness to dawn’s chorus, I hold my breath so as not to disrupt or maybe to hide myself. The chorus fades into a gentle banter of smaller bush birds, the song still reverberates. Persistent light pushes through the thickest cover, giving shape to shadows as night gives way t the Sun. 

I remain shaken, affected. 

Is this sunrise hymnal a daily ritual?  Do the songs change? What divine rite had I stumbled into? How do I paint such a visceral auditory experience? 

How do I share this?

In the works...

Here's a painting that's been lurking in the studio for a while. The image shows a group of herons surrounding a nude woman in the soft light of dawn. It is part of the "Exiting Eden" series.

The first incarnation, on the left, has "morning colors" that are almost too soft... It seems too fluffy and romantic for the theme.

So I visited the other extreme with harsh lines, muted color, and high contrast...that's the disaster on the right side.




Going from one extreme to another leads to a beautiful in between. Scrubbing out layers, re introducing line, and reshaping form, all bring movement into the composition and reveal the character of the medium... The paint has probably set enough for me to dive back in now...