General Statement:
Using oil paint on stretched canvas, I capture the sensory experience of Northern New Mexico through both plein air and studio painting. I am deeply inspired to depict the ever-changing play of light upon the landscape, the fantastical shapes of the flora, and the crystalline air of the high-desert.
Painting in plein air is both challenging and exhilarating. It makes me cede control and embrace the constraints of time, weather, and light. My plein air paintings embody a loose, impressionistic style, and a distillation of bold forms. Using impasto texture and directional movement, dynamic brushwork vibrates with the energy the scene inspired in me.
In my recent work, I transition plein air pieces into the studio, transforming them into larger, expressionistic compositions. I slow down my process by carefully considering the relationships between forms and I infuse the palette with golden and acid hues. I aim to evoke a dream-like quality of light that conjures the experience embedded in memory.
My practice is an implicit critique of our digitally-distracted age. It is a testament to the power of patient observation amidst technological noise. Inspired by fantasy epics like “Lord of the Rings”, I use the recurring motif of passageways to lead the viewer into imagination and embodiment, encouraging a slowdown and disconnection from technology.
My work merges plein air's sensory depth with the deliberate introspection of studio work, inviting viewers into an immersive space free from digital distractions.
Series:
Plein Air Paintings:
When I paint in plein air, I already have a location in mind before leaving my home. It’s not an exact spot but it is specific, like ‘somewhere at Galisteo Basin Preserve.’ I arrive at the location then walk around with my paint supplies until I see something that inspires me to paint. It is often an arrangement of light and dark shapes in which I can already see a pleasant composition emerging. But it can be anything. I then set up my stuff in front of my scene and do at least one brief sketch with a pencil and notebook, focusing on the arrangement of light and shadow, and light and dark values. I will then draw the scene on my canvas, using either a pencil or a small paintbrush with thinned-down burnt sienna. I am just creating a simple line drawing to location the major shapes and/or values. After doing the under-drawing on the canvas, I will block in the 4 to 8 big shapes in the scene, until the canvas is totally covered with new paint. I apply the paint with a lot of mineral spirits so that I can cover a lot of area fast, and so that it dries quickly and I can paint over it without muddying the new layers. I then take a break to examine the composition and make changes when needed. After that come the layers of thick paint with no added medium. I keep applying those until the painting is finished.
I enjoy painting in plein air because it is still such a difficult and daunting challenge to me. I am inclined towards controlling every aspect of the painting process very closely, and that can hinder my work. When I paint outside, I am restricted by so many factors that I have no choice but to cede most of that control, and my work is better for it. My ultimate goal in plein air painting is to emphasize the sensations I felt when originally coming across the scene.
Wash Series, 2023:
In the summer of 2023, I lived in a neighborhood with large, overgrown, unkempt lots. There were many random manmade objects, like broken down cars and old furniture, strewn across these yards haphazardly. Clusters of grasses and bushes were growing around and over some of these objects, swallowing them back into nature. I wanted to capture the dramatic and mysterious energy of these scenes. I drew the scenes on white-gessoed canvas with pencil, and then applied one coat of paint over the drawing. I used mineral spirits to thin the paint down to a watery texture before applying it to the canvas. The sun was so bright that summer in the high desert of northern New Mexico that colors seemed to be bleached out and objects appeared ashen and sunbaked. This was especially apparent to someone like me who had spent his whole life before that in a coastal, humid climate, where the sun effects are more subdued by a thick atmosphere. Applying a single transparent wash of thin paint to canvas, with the bright white of the gesso shining through the paint, was an aim towards capturing that distinctive sun-bleached sensation.