Most of the artwork I do starts outside. When we stand in an outdoor place, all our senses receive information, not just our eyes. The wind, the cold, the smells, the sound, it all works its way into the marks and the colors we put on the paper/canvas. And it’s actually fun to try to create anything within the challenges of painting outdoors. The light and shadows move and change, it rains, it snows, it gets dark, the car gets towed, there are many, many distractions. The goal of a painting done outdoors is to have the painting feel like the place feels. Creating ‘plein air’ is a way to develop focus amid the overwhelming amount of stuff out there, to build your intuition and skills, to have fun, and to always have a good story…
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