The two pieces chosen for this exhibition are fine examples of how I express the idea of light in my paintings. It’s not that I just like to work with high-contrast imagery, as I have done plenty of monochromatic night paintings as well. Rather, it is that in my paintings I like to play with color relationships that I actually see within the known clarity of the atmosphere that exists here in Maine.
Artists like Homer, Bellows, Hopper, and Wyeth all painted here for the same reason. There is something magical about the atmosphere of Maine’s light that allows one to see its territory in a much richer way than almost anywhere else.
As I observe the light and land from life, I then add my personal touches and many times a narrative such as in the painting The Crossing: Ahead of the Storm. I have observed the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Belfast hundreds of times with innumerable light situations. But in this particular piece, I decided to place a small pickup truck racing across the bridge trying to escape an approaching storm.
I enjoyed painting the oppressive storm that is approaching the bridge and impacting the light in such a powerful way. It is a scene that luckily occurs more often than not in our beautiful State of Maine.