The Landscape

Landscapes are something I enjoy painting a great deal. I like the way light and atmosphere interact. Especially here in Hudson valley. Since I move here, I've come to understand the quality of light that first moved painters like Cole and Church. My favorite, of the painters of the Northeast, is John Frederick Kensett. His Eaton's Neck, Long Island is one of his best. Seeing it today reminds of the first time I saw his work, in part one of the two volume Long Island Landscape Painting. I was amazed at his ability to turn such a boring scene into something so sensitive and immersive. It's quiet and unassuming, but as you can see from viewing it, his understanding of light is impressive. You can almost hear the soft flow of the tide and breathe the humidity in the air. A trip to the Metropolitan to view this painting--even if you saw nothing else in the museum--I think would be well worth the cost of the trip.

Understandably, St. Kateri is the subject of these paintings, but that doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed painting the natural environment that surrounds her, or that the environment can't be an important part of the composition. I have included many plants that are indigenous to the river valleys of upstate New York. Poplar trees, Cranberry and Northern Bayberry bushes, and a variety of the local lilies that grow in so many of wooded areas of the state. In the distance is visible a curve of the Mohawk river as it turns through Montgomery County. Here are a few details from the painting. It's coming along well and I look forward to showing it completed.