Mountains

These paintings were inspired by my trips to the Catskil Mountains, in the area where the Hudson River painters found their muse. It’s an area i visited regularly for two decades of summers. I came to realize what beckoned me was the peace and acceptance that still lingered in the air from my childhood. While the mountains always seemed very alive as a child, now as an adult, the vistas seem to reach through time as if I could turn around and she’d be there. I think that may be why the collection has a tinge of meloncholy, a stillness.

The works were created in studio from memory, sketches, photos and plein air works done on site. Working in the studio gave me the opportunity to layer and glaze using oil paint on hard board mostly. A few are painted on a linen substraight.

The collection’s mother color is Prussian Blue, a color with a lot of staining power that is a bit hard to keep in check. I wanted to create a vibrancy to the mountains and also used some complementaryt color to create vibration. Mostly what I wanted to convey was the scale of the mountains, like giant friends frozen in time just waiting for my return.