I use landscape painting as a means to share my emotional and psychological response to the world around me. I am drawn to natural phenomena that evoke connections to memory, fantasy, and personal allegories. The passing of vast and tumultuous summer storms become my subject to convey awe, disquiet, and a tension between humans and nature; the eerie sense of displacement that occurs when a fog rolls in and suppresses my surroundings becomes my theme to express the fragility of human perception. My work communicates the sensory impact and personal phenomenological associations that occur when I let go of the drivel of daily life and become connected to and humbled by the intensity of the natural world.
I aim to capture the light and atmospheric conditions of a physical encounter that correlate with the sensations of a psychological experience. My process relies on alternating between precise draftsmanship to capture a concrete visual moment, and loose expressive strokes to suggest a fleeting whisper of emotion. Use of intense contrast in color and value separate the light from shadow to pin down the objective, but also intends to invoke an emotional response. Glazing many layers of paint or pastel allows me to recreate lighting conditions and intensify the compositional contrast that assists in conveying my psychological narrative.
My work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions, and juried fine art festivals. Selected achievements include invitation to exhibit at the Denver Botanic Gardens in the summer of 2021, studying plein air painting by invitation in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France in 2019 and in Giverny, France in 2009, attending an exclusive artist residency in Harrington, Maine in 2013, and receiving my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from Metro State University in Denver, Colorado in 2010.