Artist's Statement
I aspire to the techniques of the early Impressionist artists who painted outdoors (en plein air) to capture the fleeting effects of light and color. Every Sunday from April until the first snow flies in South Dakota, I explore the countryside to find the perfect location for my blank canvas.Inspired by the works of Claude Monet and Paul Cezanne, I strive to accent my own work with a variety of brush strokes and lively color, capturing the texture of the subject and the impact of light on its surface. The power of suggestion is much more interesting to me than a lot of detail.
In a state like South Dakota, the wind and weather changes can be very challenging to painting outdoors. Moving clouds, the leaves rustling on trees, sunlight—or a lack of it—all these factors make a demand on the artist to capture the subject's essence in a very limited period of time.