Appropiately, this painting is titled "Wanderings". It makes me want to walk down that path; to see what's around the next corner. I've always been fascinated and drawn to the "mysterious beyond".I'm also fascinated by forests, to the point of seeing them as magical places, sort of an alternate reality.

This piece was inspired by a paid vacation to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I am also a photographer and was commissioned to do a photographic study and paintings of the area.

The vignette effect began as a happy accident and turned into a series to which this painting belongs. It focuses the viewer's attention and draws you into the woods, much as an old photograph would do.

On one of our outings, we were walking in a deserted forest where the only thing breaking the silence was the "swish-swish" of our boots moving through the dead leaves on the ground. Then there was a low rumble; then another. We were surrounded by bears! Ohhh noooo....

We never actually saw the bears, but I'll never forget that afternoon and the sense of wondering what's out there that I've tried to convey here.