The original painting, wonderfully executed in a sketchbook (hence the series) was based on a photograph of a dead tree in a misty field, taken by my lovely wife Angela. She was working weekend shifts in Seymour TX at the time, about 12 years ago as the crow flies and was headed back after a long and dull shift. The fog had rolled in unusually that morning and the mystique of it all was too much for her to resist. She stopped and snapped dozens of strange and wonderful shots of confused cattle, empty fields and the aforementioned dead trees.
I couldn't find another copy of the photo, which was pasted into the sketchbook and subsequently painted over, SO, the next best thing, just paint the element that inspired the piece. The original, in my book, A+. This, a solid C.
Don't ask me to explain it. Maybe you could?