I love the excitement of grabbing my gear and heading out into beautiful places to paint, watching the ever-changing light and trying to capture the essence of the scene before it's gone. These energetic, fast paintings become my reaction to the scene, raw emotion put to canvas. I'm always drawn to dramatic light but those conditions change quickly, limiting the amount of time I have to explore different ideas or paint large paintings. After a plein air trip, I'm filled with inspiration and can't wait to get back to my studio to use my studies as fodder for bigger works. Whether the subject matter is landscape or animals, each of my studio paintings has its genesis outside. Sketches, notes, color studies, plein air works, and photos all provide valuable information for these more complex paintings. While a plein air painting is usually finished in a few hours, my studio paintings take weeks or sometimes months to bring to completion. This contemplative and slower pace of painting acts as a balance to the frenzy of plein air and gives me time to analyze a subject and decide just what I want to say about the scene.
This spring, I am happy to announce that two of my studio paintings have been accepted in to major museum shows on both coasts. "Down Time" will be on display during the Society of Animal Artists Exhibition opening July 28 at the brand new James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg, FL. And here in California, "Golden Hour" will be part of the California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition June 10 - July 1 at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Don't miss these spectacular shows! More info here.
