Bonsai Family

This lovely, close-knit family lives at the Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California.  They struck me as a happy family, all tall and thin, living in close quarters, sharing the same food and space.  The light was scattered by the trees above, so this scene reflects the cool shadows where they most often reside.  The texture of the canvas and the strokes bring the eye to the surface, while the subject pushes the eye back into the scene.  This tension is something I enjoy whenever viewing or creating a painting.