This painting depicts the deep boreal forest, after exploring through the tangled branches. Suddeny, there's relief. An opening, a stream of light, and the cool water: these all work to relieve the darkness in the trees and allowing the reeds to grow. I painted the wood panel with many layers of acrylic, transparent colours, creating a richness that's better than black. This is my backyard, in NW Ontario, but the scene is repeated in the wild places of Canada.