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There are areas of the country that some consider more geologically interesting than our Midwest landscape; but, as a Midwest native and artist, I have spent a lifetime observing the soft, hazy colors of our gently rolling hills, the silhouetted tree lines and the dramatic, panoramic skies created over the prairies. I find the Midwest landscape a never ending source of beauty.

Different techniques are used to achieve my desired effects. I use a variety of substrates including copper, a technique dating back to the 15th century. Many times I will start with a tonal painting on canvas or panel, using a mixture of neutral oil color and pale oil drying medium. This is a technique inspired by the American Tonalists.

Like the Tonalists, I’m drawn to those moments in the day when Mother Nature reveals her mood. I love how the early morning and late day light can change a mundane scene into a glowing silhouette demanding our attention. My desire is not to copy the scene before me, but to capture the mood Mother Nature has revealed.

“Chasing the Light”

For me it’s all about the light. The clarity of light in Door County inspires me to capture that same sense of brilliant light in my work. The drama the light creates makes my paintings come to life. It is the impression of light that brings an inner glow to my work. It’s not so much what I paint that grabs the viewer’s attention, but how the light falls on the scene. I want the viewer to feel as though they could walk into the space I have created.

In the initial stages of my work, I apply a thin layer of paint with a brush to establish the composition and determine proper values. Then I bring up the painting by applying a layer of oil paint with a palette knife which produces delicately shaped ridges and fine points of textured paint. These catch and reflect light, adding dimension and depth to my art. The textures sometimes look like objects in nature, such as bark, twigs or grass. It is important to add colors of the same value as established in the underpainting.

I feel abstraction and harmonious color is the basis for a strong design – I use abstract elements that convey my message in a representational manner with complex color progressions. I believe the strongest paintings are constructed of a simple idea – but full of beautiful colors which convey mood, and textures which add variety and interest.

My goal is to celebrate the beauty and joy of the world I see around me, and to convey those feelings in my paintings.

As always, the origin of my work comes from imagination which I then use to create a good compositional landscape, still life, etc. It is not so much the subject, but how we paint it that really matters. Most anyone can draw or paint just about any subject with technical training, but an artist paints from their heart and soul and gives the viewer something they have not seen or felt before, because we interpret not render what we see or imagine. We get to the core, or as I prefer to say, the essence of our subject. I sometimes work for hours just to get the correct harmony of landscape, especially the transition of one area of color to the next in order to project just the right mood or feeling. We know we can never get as good as we aspire to be but we get better with each passing year because we simply cannot stop the insatiable appetite to not only create but to perfect out techniques.

This current body of work is my best yet because I have not accepted less than what I demand of myself. Every painting we exhibit is representative of our talent and skill and should be as good or better than the last.