Artistic "Fuel" And How It Feeds My Painting Style

After living for many years in a big, noisy city, I finally went back to my roots and found utter happiness in suburbia. The close proximity to nature makes my heart soar, and it feeds my artistic "tank," too, with a profusion of subjects. My home studio overlooks a secluded lawn, where I am sometimes visited by curious deer, gentle rabbits, naughty raccoons, and occasionally, a duck couple scouting for a nest site. The huge Douglas Fir trees situated just beyond have had an enormous impact on me, as they seem to be in almost constant motion. I love watching them bend and sway during the frequent, blustery storms that fly up the hill from the large lake below. Even on quieter days, a branch still might wiggle and bounce as a Stellar's Jay lands on it.

The way my artistic style has evolved over the last few years actually comes down to the movement of these fir trees. Nature is never completely still — something is always in motion. This led me to think about how to infuse my art with that energy. During my frequent walks through the nearby woods, lakeside beach, and wetlands, I continue to soak up nature's movements, and I bring that feeling back into my studio to put onto the page.

Movement in my art (plus assertive color!) is what excites and challenges me — how to visually depict the energy I am absorbing. I first started exploring this new direction by experimenting with paintings of swaying grasses, which really satisfied me. I've been obsessed with common roadside weeds ever since childhood. While I do love beautiful, showy flowers, I also love the texture of the "nondescript" weeds and grasses that proliferate at roadsides. I used to think my obsession with weeds was odd (this was long before landscape designers started incorporating dramatic grasses into their designs.) Now I am unabashed in my appreciation of the texture of weeds, as I am motivated to make something beautiful out of such ordinary subject matter.

"Glowing Grasses", watercolor on paper, 11" x 14"

The small sketch below was inspired by my favorite local scene. I take many photos of this slough because it's different every time I see it — the lighting, colors and textures change radically throughout the seasons, and for a brief time in the winter, one can see migrating swans situated at the back. I'm always entranced by curves — the mystery of what might lie just beyond a bend. This sketch conveys lots of movement and change, through the indication of wafting clouds, the water flowing through the curving stream, and the bending reeds in the foreground. This small sketch was successful enough that I'll probably develop it into a full-scale painting at some point...

I have been known to complain about the frequently wet, raw and unpredictable weather in my part of the country, but I now wonder what my art would be like if I didn't get to watch nature pushing its changes through, every day, just beyond my big window...