the art
In the past 10 years I have been working on several series of paintings.
Since becoming a farmer, my art has become centered on the relationship between the farm and the farmer, the land and our connection to it. I am obsessed with what it means to be a steward. My landscapes are usually the rural ones where I live. I try to capture the specific light, and its qualities that vary with time and season.
The Heritage Breed Series is an ongoing project . I am going to make one painting of each animal breed on the Livestock Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List. I am about 2/3 of the way through, but after its all done there will be over 195 images in the group. 10% of the proceeds of any sales will go to the Livestock Conservancy. It is a organization dear to my heart. I usually have 8-10 of these paintings always on my studio wall and they help me ‘warm up’ each studio session. Every year, I make a calendar from these small paintings. Look for it in the store!
Most of my work involves the figure. I love the narrative quality that a painting takes on when you depict a figure and the implied stories that happen when one or more figures are in a painting.
I am working on a series of farmer/rancher paintings called Your Beautiful Work. This work is essential, necessary, life affirming and beautiful. If eco -anxiety describes our times in this 21st century, then this action, this work, is an antidote. Farmers and ranchers have shared images of their work life with me and I am creating a group of paintings from them. Are you a farmer or rancher? Send me an image and I will work it up into a painting for this body of work.