Tree roots by road

We had a quick weekend getaway at a cottage on Lac du Coeur, which is normally about an hour and a half drive north of Montreal but a little more with traffic. This morning I did the last painting of the trip of these tree roots next to the road that goes around the lake. Cutting the road away leads to erosion of the forest floor which exposes the tree roots, and causes trees to fall over eventually. The main inspiration was Van Gogh's 1890 painting called Tree Roots, which some say could have been his last painting. When I walked past this scene it reminded me of his painting and I thought to give it a go and see what the idea was. In watercolour it was a rather difficult painting to pull off, I had to rely on my abstract painting practice, such as the palette cleanser series, in order to create the complex root structures. In the spirit of Van Gogh, the roots were infused with blue, magenta, red and violet. It was fun to paint and a good way to cap off the trip. There were enough paintings for quite a few blogs!

Tree roots by road, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, August  2024