Landscape
I need a lot of space and light. I do things fast, so I often practice Tai Chi and Qui Gong before painting to align the moment to the view. Slowing down helps me plan. Even as I’m settling my easel and opening my kit, there’s line and color in my heart. I’ll soon be looking deeper into the painting than the view. I work rapidly because weather tires me out. Experience has shown that back in the studio, abstractions look purposeful when tones stay mellow but details that call attention to themselves just demand more accuracy. It tales skill and intuition to arrive spontaneously at an appropriate gesture.
Mt Jefferson
Hiking all day and then just standing
I forget what this means to me, to have
In me the energy to start a canvas,
Express intimations of weather inside
Matching weather outside in twilight,
Feasting with immortals, trusting just
One more hour in wilderness alone
13 blissed mountain miles round trip
Especially after a long hike to a park
Thought to be lost to fire and age
Landscapes take us to spiritual places
My skill resides in slowing down before I start and relaxing before asking intuition to become gesture.