View Off the Deck

Each summer morning, Jeff could see this hillside over the rim of his coffee cup. Around 7:15, a beam of light began moving down the slope, offering roughly half an hour before the effect passed. On the mornings when conditions were right, he rose early and set up to follow it.

View Off the Deck was built through those brief sessions across a summer. Red-winged blackbirds and the scent of swamp flowers accompanied the work as the light kept moving. The painting gathers many mornings of watching into one sustained image.