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Extremes of weather offer an infinitely challenging and dramatic vehicle with which to explore color and form and this motif has become a recurring theme throughout the body of work.

On western field trips I’m often taken with veils of rain in the distance, connecting earth and sky, revealing and concealing. In the brutal heat of a summer studio it seems quite clear to me that if I paint the coming storm, the sky may open and offer some relief. In the desperation of a desert drought, even the faintest suggestion in a broad sky holds potential for me.

The fact that this innocent beauty might be transformed in seconds into one of the most deadly and powerful forces on earth, while remaining simply air and water, demands a certain respect and my full attention.

With similar respect, I paint wildfires, geysers and explosions. I find a paradoxical beauty in this chaotic, destructive force and the familiar billowing masses offer various rewards of compelling imagery.

I discovered Montana to be full of new wildlife, broad expanses of light and dark, fascinating geology and a subtle palette of interesting neutrals, especially in the fall. With the added stimulation of horses and their singular power and speed, the paintings come easily with a certain passion.

Both studio paintings of nature in the extreme and the field paintings are built of pure elements, by traditional means, a limited palette with linseed oil medium and thousands of brushstrokes.