Another protracted labor of landscape, evident in the complex impasto. A writer friend pointed out a bunch of shapes, especially in the trees, that look like letters and assumed they were an intentional part of the storybook feel. I hadn’t even noticed them before but I like them now. Putting the kids in, high/low, near/far, excited/subdued really energized the location. The tricky thing about throwing together disparate images and avoiding the collage look is making the light sources all jive. This piece and “Let Us Go Then...” both have different kinds of light going on in the various planes of action but it is not only believable but reinforces the realness in its reflection of how variegated live scenes actually appear. Em didn’t want to part with this one, I told her I’d just have to make more, the potency is only enhanced by its meaning something extra to us.