2020  •  30 x 24"  Show size

oil on canvas

My paintings are always inspired by nature which I find very intriguing. The idea for this surreal painting came from 2 different sources: 1. A long time ago I saw a documentary of a guy who used his savings to buy land to start planting orange trees and make a living. His name was Baldassare Forestiere. After he bought the land he was very frustrated to find out that the soil was not good for planting orange trees. Then he came up with the idea of digging up holes to reach the lower layers where he could find good soil. He dug holes for every orange tree that he was planting. The bottom of each tree was lower than the ground level but the top of the trees would poke out above ground level. Forestiere created an amazing underground world with complex patios, grottoes and garden courts. I always thought this was a fascinating and inspiring story and it’s in my list of places to visit. It is located in Fresno, California and it is open for visitors! This painting is actually very different (visually) from the Forestiere Underground Gardens, but it represents a similar concept of “going beneath the surface to find what you are looking for” per Forestiere’s words, while at the same time it supports my idea of connecting with nature as a way to connect with our inner-selves. I believe that past-present-future are all interconnected and I want to capture this connection as a single moment. 2. I live in a hilly area and my house is located on top of one of the hills. The view from my dining room shows the top of a wooded area as if all that greenery (the top of the trees) was just grass or land where you could just walk right on top and actually reach the other houses located on the hill right across. This view always reminds me of the story above and I had to turn all this into a painting.