This small study for the larger painting Shenandoah was completed over the years 2023-2025. The painting was made as a way to experiment with changes to the larger composition, and eventually pushed toward it’s own independent solution for this richly-saturated deep blue field flecked with 24 karat gold leaf stars.
The relationship between this smaller painting and the larger one was useful to me as I was working. But, a small painting has its own particular sense of scale, particularly when seen in person. While a big painting is enveloping, to me, a small painting always feels a bit like it is moving away from the viewer. When the space inside the painting is vast, this resonates. For a painting of the night sky–it’s just right.
