Discovering the Hudson River School of Artists

Although you know me primarily as a maker of desert paintings, the start to the look I wanted to achieve began with a painting of the mountains.

In the Mountains,  Albert Bierstadt,  1867, 36-3/16" x50-1/4" / 91.9cm x 127.6cm

I saw this image (or another, very similar piece) in the early 1980s as a framed print at a shopping mall in a setup like a kiosk, except the prints were hanging on a windowless wall with portable walls jutting out at 90°. I was full into landscape photography at the time, until I saw this image. I loved everything about In the Mountains and realized I had never taken a photo that impacted me the way this item did.

Although I dabbled in painting, I had never seen views like this before. This type of art was never discussed in the college art-history classes I had taken. This was a totally new discovery for me -- I grew instantly and began seeking out more works like this.

I found them in time (no Internet then), and "discovered" other 19th century artists like Frederick E. Church, Thomas Moran and many others. These three became my "art heroes" and set me on an artistic path that I remain on to this day.

Of course, it would take me a long time before I could even begin to approach the sheer drama and emotional impact of paintings like In the Mountains. I think I've gotten much closer, and I continue to develop with every painting I make. I don't know if I'll ever achieve the mastery of landscape painting that these masters reached.

But I gotta try!

Open Skies, Open Spaces

I finally finished a painted I began before Thanksgiving, 2013! Between feeling chronically sleepy, upset over an upcoming molar extraction (that's done now) and holiday business, it really took me almost two months to get the final brush stroke applied!

Open Skies, Open Spaces     acrylic on canvas      20" x 24" 

Detail

The view shows Mt. San Jacinto, just west of Palm Springs, CA, with a redtail hawk soaring through the open air. This area is big on winds and sand, and small dunes fill the land.

I left out the signs of human habitation: the Union Pacific railroad track cuts across the mid/foreground, as well as the trees of Snow Creek Village which arise from the base of the cloud-shrouded hill to the right. I've seen historical photographs of this special place, and I much prefer the way it used to look.

Sadly, the desert is slowly filling in with objects that are gradually destroying the open spaces that make the desert what it is. One can only hope that natural beauty will some day be more important than money.

"Art Is Not for Matching the Sofa!"

"Art is not for matching the sofa!!!" I've heard this complaint from many artists who meet potential customers at art shows. Buyers may love a piece, but "it's the wrong color" and the people move on to find something different.

As southern California begins a new art show season, I thought I'd reproduce an article I wrote that appears on my website. (The image was scanned from a 35mm slide -- I wish I had a true digital version of the painting, but we didn't own any digital cameras at that time).

 Decorating with Art

 Back in 2004, my painting on the left (Golden on the Prowl with a golden eagle) was hanging in a Palm Desert, CA gallery. As you can see, the piece is mostly blue. It measured 48” x 60”/1.2m x 1.5m.

A couple came into the gallery, and the man was totally transfixed by the painting, studying it at length. Finally, the wife reminded him that there was no blue in the room that the artwork was intended for. So they moved on and walked away from a painting that obviously spoke to the husband in a powerful way.

Unfortunately, I suspect this happens a lot. For many, art is nothing more than a wall decoration that “ties the room together”: art’s only function is to repeat the colors used elsewhere in a room. How sad, especially for people like the husband who apparently loved Golden on the Prowl.

Years ago, I took some interior design classes in college. The instructor pointed out the wisdom of buying furniture and carpeting first with their more limited color choices, and choosing paint colors last due to the infinite numbers of hues available. I’d go one step further: buy the artwork that touches your soul in profound ways FIRST! Then get the furniture, carpeting and, lastly, the wall paint. Then the art will match the room, and you’ll have images that you will love to look at every single day of your life.

Or: go neutral with the wall and furniture colors, or think of the art as counterpoints to the furnishings, and don’t worry about matching the sofa!

Design programs on television treat art almost as an afterthought. No emotional response necessary. But it’s YOUR home or office. Fill it with beautiful things that make your life better just because you see them.

More Inspiration from Claude Lorrain

Here is another painting by one of my favorite painters of all time: Pastoral Landscape, Claude Lorrain, o/c, 38.25" x 51.25" (1638). (I think the original may be a little darker than this image).

Claude had a way of making balanced, harmonious and peaceful landscapes. In this case, he included the ruins of a Roman temple (I'd LOVE to see a scene like this!) on the left and, althogh hard to see here, there appear to be additional ruins in the distance across the river. Claude also liked to paint the skies of dawn or sunset; here, he didn't do the sky with his classic yellowish tones.

As a landscape painter who creates mostly desert scenes, it's hard for me to imagine doing paintings like Claude's. We just don't have those tall trees, hazy atmospheric conditions or, of course, Roman ruins. We have saguaro cactus, Joshua trees, palm trees and/or cottonwood trees under certain conditions, and clear, low-humidity air.

I guess if I want to paint like this, I'll have to branch out, more than I have, into other western landscapes. I may need to, anyway -- not everyone loves desert paintings (although I don't understand why not!)

So -- just give it time. I doubt I'll ever be the Claude Lorrain of the 21st century, but I'll just have to see what I can do!

Some New Drawings of the Desert

I've been drawing more than painting lately in my efforts to produce artwork that should be affordable to almost anyone. Here are two of the latest batch of drawings:

Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak                                                           18" x 24"

Pikes Peak is a painting I made back in 2006. I always liked the piece, but I felt it needed just a little more...perhaps a little tweaking.

So I tweaked it, and I (personally) think it looks better now.

Pikes Peak is the mountain west of Colorado Springs, CO. This view shows the mountain in early September after a storm covered the hill with snow. It's early morning, and this is how it appears if you visit the Garden of the Gods Club, named after the Garden of the Gods -- a series of red sandstone rocks and spires in the middle distance. Pikes Peak is one of Colorado's "14ers" -- the elevation at the top is at or over 14,000 feet above sea level.

Colorado has some spectacular scenery, and this area is certainly no exception

Saint Jacinto's Spring

My latest painting:

Primavera de San Jacinto (Saint Jacinto's Spring)                            20" x 24"

It's springtime in the desert! Mt. San Jacinto is west of Palm Springs, CA and is one of two mountain ranges that makes the desert what is is by blocking most rain clouds that arrive from the west.

This is the north-facing side of the mountain. I always loved the abrupt rising of the mountain from the flat plain, the result of earthquake activity that lifted this hunk of earth up into the air. The other side of "San Jac" has the rolling foothills that one expects with mountains, and also features green grass following the winter rains.

But this side receives little rain, and the vegetation shows it.

Still, the view takes on a rugged beauty all its own. This is the beginning of the California desert, and my own little desert world begins right here.

Welcome to Saint Jacinto's spring!