PLEIN AIR

We live in a time and culture where millions of images bombard our senses at incredible speeds relentlessly. But are we really seeing? There are things we don’t see, even when we are looking straight at them, and other things we stare at obsessively, so that we are blind to everything else. This is human nature and somewhat amusing.

My plein air (in the open air) paintings deal with the act of seeing and the passage of time. The essence of the plein air experience is to capture a moment, using paint to express an emotional response of this view. For me, it is much more. My subject matter is mostly unspectacular scenes that are routinely overlooked – the unseen. However, taking the time to actually observe the subject, to connect, for a few hours, blends the moments of the act of seeing with my personal history. And in a blink of an eye, the art illuminates the object and raises the viewers’ consciousness and field of vision.

Intentionally seeing alters the thing that is seen and transforms the seer, never to be the same.