I love the first signs of fall – the crisp feel in the air, the crunching of leaves underfoot, the beautiful autumn colors, and being totally immersed in nature in the middle of a forest without a care in the world. In Fire and Gold I wanted to recreate that joyful feeling, choosing warm reds and yellows of autumn and using energetic strokes with my paint to heighten that mood. Building up first thin transparent layers and then thick textured layers of oil paint also add to a certain glow and magic in the final piece.