Earth

This is an unusual painting. It started with an assignment in grad school where we were each given a clump of earth and we were required to do something with it. I thought it was beautiful and I wanted to paint it. So I dissolved the soil away from the lower roots in order to expose them, and I used the resulting mud as paint. I painted the earth with the earth. Many paints originate from earth colors, taking their names from their place of origin, like Burnt Sienna, or Raw Umber, so this was a natural thing to do.