My adventure
into the realm of landscape painting has been at once incredibly
inspiring and humbling. With nature as my teacher and my
constant companion, I delight in observing her play of light
and shadow, the colors of her skies, and the softness and
depth of her atmosphere. I am humbled by her complexities
and utter beauty. The more I paint in nature, the more I
learn to hone my skills of observation. True sight, really
looking, is, for me, the greatest challenge of landscape
painting.
I know I
could never duplicate all of those complexities in a single
painting--or a hundred paintings, for that matter. But I
revel in being able to suggest them, hint at them. I paint
my responses to land before me, which are largely those
of joy and awe.
I admit I
am hooked on color, so I am constantly in pursuit of warm
sunny places that foster gardens and flowers. I also love
the mellower, more subtle colors of mountain streams and
distant hills, as well as the seas cutting into grassy marshes.
These pursuits have taken me to some beautiful places; France,
Italy, the Blue Ridge mountains, and the low country of
the American South.
I paint both
in the studio from studies and from photos I take on sight,
and directly from life "en plein air". "En
plein" air is a French term meaning "in the open
air", and it hearkens back to a long tradition of outdoor
landscape painting made famous by the Barbizon School, and
the Impressionists who followed. I am inspired by the great
landscape painters Monet, Sargent, Sisley, Corot, and too
many others to name. But mostly I am inspired by nature
herself. By far she is the greatest teacher, and the toughest
taskmaster!
