Trees for Chloe, Oil on Gallery Canvas, 36x48 inches

This is the second painting with my niece, Chloe, at the core of the subject matter. I began this painting a few weeks before she passed away.  I had taken my phone out during one of my jogs to photograph some old trees on St. Joseph Boulevard in Orleans. The way that the negative space between the tall, empty branches contrasted against the bright blue sky caught my attention. 

The “Trees for Chloe” painting began in portrait format; after I learned of her passing at 23 years of age, I realized that I needed to find hope, to make a change, since the lives of her family and our extended family had been forever altered. I rotated the image to the right to landscape format and completed it; I ended up creating a new image: a dream-like fantasy world where stairs could lead up or down to a chamber–a heavenly and mystical abode.