Altering the naturalism of a landscape in painting causes the work to possess an aura of mystery. With altered reality, recognizable imagery provides a surreal sense of the ancient, sacred, and mysterious in the discovery of a cave, a rock shelter, or an avalanche of slate hidden bluffside.
The time worn landscapes of the Ozark hills offer the viewer a spiritual place changed by the history of an illusive past.
John Wesley Hawkins was only ten years old, living near Star Hollow Creek when the healing water resort town of Seven Star Springs washed downstream after a water spout created a sudden deluge in June of 1881.
Nature reveals scant evidence of a past trauma at this site. Star Hollow Creek descends placidly near Bear Cave in this painting, veiling a dark past with an idyllic present.