Contemporary Abstract Expressionism I Golden Polder

This painting is a vivid landscape split by a sharp golden horizon about a third of the way down. Above it, a stormy sky; below, a wide stretch of land and water mirroring the light. The sky is full of movement. Grey and silver clouds sweep diagonally across the top, with a deep band of cobalt and indigo running through them. Bright gold bursts out of the darkness in the centre and upper right, like sunlight blazing through a break in the storm. Along the horizon, a thin line of gold runs straight across the canvas, with rows of tiny dark vertical marks above it that look like distant trees, reeds, or masts. Below the line, the gold repeats in scattered patches over grey, black, and touches of pink, then fades into the lower half. The bottom half is cool water: cobalt, navy, and bright aqua, with white highlights and long vertical drips running down, so the reflection seems to shimmer. Gold flecks float on the surface. The paint is thick and knife-applied throughout, with the gold especially raised and textured, so it catches the light in the room. It reads as a Dutch polder or lakeside under a dramatic sky, with sunlight breaking through and reflecting on the water.