Portfolio of Works

These plein air paintings were created at least 80% on location, many were 100%. Painting in nature is a very different experience from studio painting. There is an exciting incentive to work quickly because the light changes constantly. It's a challenge to see instantly what is before me and work fast to distill it to simple shapes and marks of color and value. The resulting paintings are more expressive and intuitive than studio work because I don't have time to think. I must respond and react to what I see and feel. Painting outdoors, for me, isn't just about replication of the beautiful scene as much as it's a visual poem of a moment in time. What you see is what I saw and felt and how I reacted, while standing in nature surrounded by the scene.

Primarily, in the studio, I work from location studies, sketches, and altered photos I take on location. I rarely use the original photo once the process has started.  Some paintings are started in nature and finished in the studio. This is becoming a favorite method of mine. The biggest advantage of studio paintings is the luxury of time. I think I spend more time looking at a painting, determining what it needs, than I do working on what it needs. Another advantage is size. Working on a larger painting, or multiples, in the studio gives me the opportunity to stop and come back later. That’s huge. A third advantage is comfort. I have a level floor and no wind, bugs, humidity, heat, cold, rain, travel time, setting up, taking down, too much sun, not enough sun, you get the idea. It’s still the most fun way to paint landscapes.

I've added this small works collection to help show scale by grouping them together. Plein Air or Studio work will be shown in the description.