Over the years, I've been known to paint a wide range of subjects. I've learned much from each, but recently I've had an inner nudge to really get down and dirty into painting landscapes.
I've tried to understand the why of this decision. With unlimited subject matter at hand, why focus my efforts on the land?
I've driven across the continental United States and repeatedly have been awed by the flow of one land formation into another from state to state, even from one area of the same state to another. There's a compelling movement of land mass, water, foliage, forest, desert, plains, mountain peak.
If one lives in one area for all of their life, I think they might not experience the extent of that incredible motion, the flow and change of the land.
A new friend asked me to articulate what I hoped to "say" with my landscapes, and I was stumped for an answer. I glibly responded with, "I'm an earth sign Virgo." Perhaps my resolve to try this is too fresh and unformed. I thought of the geometric shapes to be explored, playing with a different palette of colors, but such technical considerations fell short. The heart of the matter wasn't yet identified.
Then yesterday I came across a quote by photographer Annie Leibovitz:
"I wish that all of nature's magnificence, the emotion of the land, the living energy of place could be photographed."
Bingo! I realized that, with the medium of acrylic paint on canvas, I hope to convey my interpretation of the living energy of the land.
Here I go!
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