Horizon…expanse…distant view…opportunity…discovery…
Growing up in Western Colorado, there was a constant scramble toward the near horizon toward the Colorado plateau. The breadth of the sky drew me west and I landed in the Pacific Northwest at age 23, with my family and friends many states away. It turns out one of my best high school friend’s brother had beat me here. Chris Moench was already living on the edge of the Salish Sea. It took decades for us to reconnect through the help of mutual friends, but here we are, soul mates in the arts with many shared references.
A horizon is often how I begin my paintings, which is true for many landscape painters. What starts as an imperceptible depression, or mound, seems to erode, or expand, or thrust upward, becoming something far greater. I hardly ever work with reference photographs, finding my mind's eye a better guide to the spirit of place. A magical realism unfolds, and as this occurs, the muse—the voice from my youth—enthralls me with possibility, until I find myself standing in a place I had never known was there. Without maps, I then realize where I am.
