Why do I, as an artist, paint landscapes?
In short, because I love doing it, I’m good at it, and I have fans that love them.
How about figures, or portraits, or still lifes?
Since I was a little kid, I’ve drawn and painted figures. I enjoy painting figures. It was my favorite thing to do in college. I loved to place these figures in sword and sorcery scenes, so many times, they had fantastical landscapes as backgrounds. These fantasy-scapes were created from my observations of the real world. I didn’t pursue this course to the point of professional adequacy.
Later in my professional career, I painted a few portraits. I still do on occasion, but it’s not my favorite thing. I refuse to let a client take a portrait if they aren’t happy with it. That means I’ll spend hours and hours working a face until it’s right. It’s very time consuming.
I painted still lifes in school, and hated them. I find them boring and tight; they’re too claustrophobic to me. Which cleverly leads me to the main point…
I love big scenery!
I’m always in pursuit of a view. Since I was a young, I’ve been outside exploring my surroundings. I’ve waded through freezing streams, climbed mountains, chased a desert horizon, and jumped in icy-cold Lake Superior. It’s never been enough for me to look at a boulder without climbing the boulder. A new trail in the woods will entice me to just keep going, just to the next bend, just past the next curve.
Given my love of the scenery around me, it’s little wonder that I love to create landscape paintings. I get to express my awe of the world around me. I see beauty all over, and by putting it on canvas, perhaps I can get someone else to see the beauty.
I like to say that when I paint a landscape, it’s like exploring the place I’m recreating, and using my brushes and colors to tell you what I see.
I can’t take you on a climb up that mountain, but I can take your eye, your imagination, and your heart on a climb up that mountain.
Funny, related, side story:
Years ago I was visiting relatives in southern Illinois. This area is pretty flat, with miles of corn and soybean fields. One spot near my aunt and uncle’s house, called Junction, offers a view of these fields gently rising into tree covered hills. I went plein air painting on the side of the road near Junction. I showed the finished painting to my uncle. In his southern accent he said “Oh, that’s purty! Where is that?” I told him it was over by Junction. “Aw hell! I never knew Junction looked like that!”
I can show you the dazzling colors I saw splashed in a stand of trees at sunset.
I can lead your eye into the depths of Lake Superior, and over it’s choppy swells.
I can make you wonder what’s around that bend, or down that slope, or over that ridge.
I can invite you to sit quietly and enjoy the view.
Hopefully, I can move your spirit with a landscape painting, just as I was moved when I saw the landscape in life.
Many of my landscape paintings have paths or roads in them. This is very much on purpose. This is my way of inviting you into the scene so you can explore with me.
