PARADISE, PAVED
An Oil Painter's Exploration of the Suburbs
It is long-standing tradition for painters to document the everyday scenes around them. In that spirit, I spent several years painting Everywhere, USA: the suburbs. Here is a sampling of those efforts.
Why would you want to paint that?
I wish I had a dollar for for every time I've been asked that question. Most landscape painters, including me, like to focus on bucolic nature, bustling cityscapes, and other scenes with obvious romantic appeal. But what about all the views in between — the freeways, drainage ponds, subdivisions, franchises, strip malls, and office parks that make up so much of our day-to-day experience?
Plein air painting is all about sunlight. But the sun doesn’t just shimmer through trees and glint off waves on a lake. It also makes car bumpers gleam and plastic water slides glow. If beauty is not inherent in the built up, car-centered environment we’ve created, can I nevertheless employ my skills with light, color, and design to create an engaging painting of that landscape? I enjoy the challenge. Let me know what you think.