Lilies and Koi

20.5”x27” oil on canvas mounted to board. What is this painting about? Is it about Koi fish, is it about lilies? Well, both!
The subject may involve lilies and fish but when an artist spends so much time creating a painting, the intent just like the water, contains more depth than what appears on it’s surface.

Combining image captures of Koi fish and lily pads in order to build a composition involves intent, various elements and studious examination of the subject being portrayed, all of which takes time. Each step is a celebration as well as an examination of the subject along the way to completion. Taking time to examine something beautiful and yet fleeting is this artist’s attempt at passing forward my appreciation of moments that provide visual as well as visceral joy. Many people have neither the time or even the inclination to examine details such as how light reveals a myriad of colors as it passes over or through surfaces.

My goal is to slow down time long enough for a viewer to notice the beauty that is around us. By examining the small things that we take for granted, I hope to capture and present them long enough to hold onto so they may be revisited again and again.

The subject of this painting involves the relationship between four distinct fish as they begin to pass through a forest of lily stems. The painting also invites you to take time to appreciate the play of colors and reflections of lilies, flowers and the individual fish. Perhaps this painting will serve to invite you to travel beneath the surface of the lily covered pond, and to enjoy the company of gentle vertebrates from a different world as they move along quietly within their element.