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I paint landscapes to celebrate the beauty of the land, the light, and the sky. The views that speak to me most compellingly are domesticated, pastoral landscapes--rural areas shaped by human activity, places not too far off the beaten path. I look for patterns of light and shadow and especially love the golden light and long purple-blue shadows of late afternoon. I strive to capture those transient effects on canvas to convey a sense of welcome, belonging, and homecoming. The land in Tuscany has a musical quality, with rolling hills weaving together harmoniously in an infinitely satisfying way. I look for similar landscapes in Iowa, and I try to convey the muscular shapes of the land and the clean geometry of the houses and barns planted on it. Rugged landscapes like those in Italy’s Le Marche region and in South Dakota’s Badlands and Black Hills inspire me in an entirely different way, with their dramatic, ancient, almost architectural forms and clear patterns of light and shadow. Between stretches of painting landscapes, I do still life "portraits" of vegetables and fruits as a way of exploring color and form. From time to time, I do paintings of family members or myself dressed in vintage clothes and placed in various settings as another way to stretch creatively.
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