Landscapes

Homesick for Homeland

about this series:

Panting landscapes was something I used to hate. Its comical really, the thing I avoided at all costs for 28 years is now my hyper focus and obsession. There is something thrilling in trying to capture something as permanent yet ephemeral as the essence of a vista. light, time, growth and decay mean its always changing. I could revisit the same locationn again and again at different times and seasons and ever make the same peice. Slowing down to paint lets me take time to commune with nature and elevates the subject matter giving a fleeting moment in time a sense of permanance. The physicality of this process gives something of the artist to the landscape.

I use acrylic paint for both pleinair and studio paintings, which lends an immediacy and focus to my work. The speed required to work wet in wet with acrylic paint requires me to stay engaged, and the limited workable time compels me to let go of my perfectionism. I find the restrictions of the medium help prompt me to be bold, committed and freer with my brush strokes.

At its core, my work examines the profound sense of solace and renewal that can be found in the act of creation and connection to the land we occupy. I have come home, first to the land, then to myself. The act of creation has become Ariadne’s red yarn, tethering me to my home on the other side of the labyrinth within. Now the land is my home, and painting is my touchstone.