About

  Quiet and solitude. Two of the things that are hardest to find today with the constant need for things that distract us from the beauty around us. I am a part of a tradition that has been well tested by time, with many other artists who have had an interest in depicting this quiet. I have found myself drawn to the truths of G**’s presence through the beauty of His creation, and the ability to connect to Him in the silence of nature. There is a holy quiet when you are in the wild by yourself, with only your easel and canvas before you. These places often exceed their immediate simplicity when first viewed, and even the simplest of scenes can be a compelling painting. These are the things that draw me to paint, and I seek to follow the old masters who laid the groundwork for my style. 

                 Many of these locations in nature can oftentimes infect us with their beauty, and they reflect the tremendous beauty of their creator. I desire to paint these scenes free of the influence of man, to return these places to that ancient solitude and silence. These places can create a connection to worship that few can sense in their busy lives, and many people simply are unable to notice these scenes. I seek to change that by bringing these scenes to the city to remind us of these truths. G** calls for us to be stewards of the earth, and it is clear through the Bible that He too, loves these places. The wilderness has intrigued mankind since the beginning of time, and the Impressionists and Romanticists of the 19th century found themselves intrigued by awe-inspiring scenes of natural grandeur. I am no different than them, and I often find myself looking back to them for inspiration, both in my techniques of applying paint, to the stretching of canvases for my work.

          There is something simplistic and yet unexpected in the way that I choose scenes to paint from in nature. Plein air art is informed by one’s experience in nature, and oftentimes that also spills into the studio through the imagination of scenes we have seen previously. Many artists have preceded me, and I am deeply impacted by the works of Don Parks and Scott Christensen, both of whom successfully capture this beautiful solitude of nature.