"Oak Tree Canopy" Oil 12" x 15"

What is my Art about?

I could write a book trying to answer that question but I don't know if I would succeed in hitting the nail on the head. It is just so out of synch to try putting into words something that has so many abstract aspects and many facets and nuances. Having said that there is one aspect of my painting that I've been thinking about today.

I like to escape into nature. I'm dependent on the effects nature has on my whole being. It is impossible to describe - like the effects love has on your soul, but here goes.

Being in the midst of Nature.....

Makes me breathe deeper - it's as if not just my physical lungs fill as I take in the wonderful air but my emotional and spiritual lungs as well.

The air is different when surrounded by Nature. It feels welcoming, healthy, full of positive things including multiple scents, it has room to move around you. One of my favorite things is a balmy breeze which feels like angel wings touching my skin. (I am not sure I believe in angels or angels with bird like wings but I do not know how better to describe the feeling.)

Everyday concerns seem to fade in the presence of Nature.

My eyes cannot process fast enough all the beauty around me. I could stand in one place and see endless different scenes and vignettes. Nature changes every second. The lighting, sky and living things all are moving and changing constantly. Add my own movement and changing of position and the wonders around me are infinite.

I am nourished.

I feel all is right.

I feel validated.

I feel exulted.

Nature seems to give to me rather than take as so much of life does.

I feel healed.

I escape the stresses of everyday life and am filled with a sense of gratitude.

How does this influence my art?

I want to translate my experiences and my visions of Nature into visual art; my paintings.

How I experience Nature is the force, energy, influence, motivator, behind my Art.

The effect Nature has on me fills me to overflowing. It is my muse.

The way I uniquely visually perceive Nature scenes is what I create in my paintings.

I could probably write a small book trying to describe just this one aspect of what my art is about but this is a small start. Like any of my writing about my art it feels totally inadequate, but it is an honest attempt and that is all I ask of myself. I am not a writer but a painter and do not expect myself to be anything else.