2024
Painting dimension
50 × 40 × 2 cm
Medium
Acrylic and mixed media
Materials / support
Acrylic and textured mixed media on stretched canvas
Strong shafts of sunlight break through a dark woodland canopy, illuminating leaves and branches while creating a dramatic contrast between radiance and shadow.
The painting forms part of a series of three inspired by Ushers Lake, Swords, in November 2020. During that walk, shafts of low autumn sunlight were breaking through the canopy with an intensity I had not previously seen there and have not witnessed to the same extent since, despite regularly walking the same route.
Of the three paintings, Sunlight through the Trees most directly explores that fleeting effect. The dark woodland provides the setting, but the real subject is the light itself — its direction, warmth and ability to transform an otherwise familiar landscape for a few moments. The illuminated leaves punctuate the darkness, while the strong beams draw the eye deeper into the woodland. The work was developed from digitally prepared source material before being extensively worked by hand with acrylic paint and textured media.