Summer Gate

Every gate, to paraphrase a favorite song, has its season. The season for this dramatic portal, with its monumental pillars and ornate ironwork, its lavish blossoms and delicate palette of floral colors, clearly is summer. Summer Gate introduces my third painting to embrace the promise of a season by exploring the enticing world that lies beyond a secluded gate. The Autumn Gate and Spring Gate Collections set my imagination in motion; Summer Gate is the next step in the process of my artistic inspiration.

I guess you could say that as an artist, it’s always been hard for me to walk past a gate. They whisper to me of mysteries hidden within. They stand as symbols of the passages we all make in our lives, of the discoveries that await the curious and courageous, of the ongoing revelation of God’s grace.

Summer Gate is resplendent with flowers as befits the gateway to the season of abundance. Roses climb the stonework; foxgloves, hollyhocks, and azaleas embrace the pillars while the perfume of their blossoms fill the air. A decorative plum tree shields the garden with the radiant pink and green of its leaves and blossoms. In the verdant distance we glimpse the majestic manor house that we’ll vist in the Summer Gate Series.