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. 

A man wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and outdoor gear, standing on a rocky trail with snow-covered mountain and glacier in the background.

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.