Southwest Oils

The otherworldly landscape of the Colorado Plateau might not be believed without experiencing. Its mesas, buttes, domes, hoodoos, fins, reefs, and natural bridges colored in reds, whites, grey-blue, purples and greens can feel more carnal than geologic. But it is millennia of movement, build up and erosion of the earth that has made the area what it is. I feel fortunate to live close to this geographic wonder so that I may explore and paint it's terrain regularly.

Painting with a palette knife, I feel like I'm sculpting the rock before which I stand. My knife builds the three dimensional forms on my flat surface. I layer color combinations that seem impossible but in this environment are very real. My seemingly disparate strokes combine to create abstract, layered shapes made up of value and color that somehow come together in a believable image.