Artist Statement

My work challenges and expands upon the foundations of Landscape, Vignette, and Vanitas traditions. Through a limited palette, I create emotive and textured paintings that reflect my deep desire to understand what it means to be alive. This focus on vitality and restraint allows the energy and vibrancy of the natural world to come forward, opening space to explore aspects of our human nature. By bringing these elements together, the paintings become a site where external environments and internal experiences intersect, each shaping how the other is perceived.

I have established a career as a landscape painter, becoming known for my expressive ‘open air’ painting style. However, I have found this label “Landscape Painter” to be quite stifling as of late. My interest lies in Nature as a whole as I view landscapes through varying lenses, depicting imagery that doesn’t necessarily fit into the Landscape genre. Because nature is manifold, I broadened the genre to include Vignette Scenes that provide a more scaled-in focus on natural elements. Often sketch-like and venturing into the intuitive, my vignettes capture the essence of nature through a more intimate lens. Since 2023, I have focused on tree postures and forestry, whereas before I focused on sky personalities and desert geology. My interest in capturing lowlight and soft light has led to a fascination with backlit scenes.

Additionally, I explore the symbolic language of Vanitas Still Life. As I move through life, I continue to reflect on the difficult themes I’m confronted with. Mortality is something many people rarely allow themselves to consider, yet I have been involuntarily drawn into its conversations through the many losses I have experienced. Over time, I have come to understand vanitas not only as a visual tradition but as a mindset – a way of seeing the world that extends far beyond drawing and painting. I believe vanitas can and should be moved out of dark, candle-lit corners to contemporary settings using imagery and color palettes that speak to our time.

Oils are my preferred medium as I enjoy the scale of depth, richness, and vibrance I can achieve that I have trouble accomplishing with other mediums. I also find their texture satisfying. My current palette is limited to Titanium White, Ivory Black, Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson, and Ultramarine Blue (inspired by the Zorn palette). Limiting the number of colors facilitates stronger color cohesiveness and complexity in my paintings, and deepens my connection with the subject matter.

I use a spectrum of techniques but favor the wet-on-wet method and impasto paint application, especially en plein air where the light changes quickly. This allows me to produce a textured painting with colors that are smeared and often mixed on the canvas. The texture and stylistic qualities compel the viewer to observe the whole painting from a distance. The viewer will find brushstrokes and textures mimicking behaviors of nature, such as movement and growth patterns. Because my work has undertones expressing time moving, there are often groupings of uniformity – in brushstrokes, knife marks, lines, and shape – creating atmospheric interest and decoration.  

Although it’s clear I find inspiration in nature, I also find it in many other forms. Inspiration is easy to find once it is realized that there is an art to everything. Many artists and movements galvanize me throughout the phases of my practice. The brushstrokes used by Vincent Van Gogh; the color use and style of Gustav Klimt; the sensitivity to light within the Impressionism movement; the deeply moving work of Käthe Kollwitz; and the literary wonders of Goethe’s Faust and Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita are just a few sources of significant influence in my current work.

Aside from creating pretty art depicting scenes from nature, my ultimate goal is to appreciate simplicity through experimentation with materials and technique, and to thoughtfully stimulate the mind.