Mountain Ash / Luis II

 This second Mountain Ash / Luis painting took a different path from the first. Where Luis I leaned into abstract geometry, Luis II grew directly out of the branching forms of the tree itself.

I began with soft underpainting and white china marker lines, which gave a light, open scaffolding. Onto that surface I layered collage: hole-punched berries cut from painted watercolor paper in varied reds, and leaves cut from green gel prints. These layers created depth and movement, like foliage in shifting light.

The abstract shapes remained important — spirals and discs balance against the natural leaves and berries — but here the Rowan branch became the real anchor, weaving through the composition and tying the elements together.

Luis is the Ogham tree of protection, insight, and clear vision. In this version, I felt the protective energy more strongly: the leaves forming a net, the berries glowing like sparks of fire. The balance of naturalistic detail and symbolic form made this painting feel resolved in its own way, distinct from the first.

Mountain Ash / Luis II