Over the Iris

My paintings are an expression of my love for our beautiful natural world and its inhabitants. What I create in my artwork is driven by my passion for the infinitely interesting colors and forms that I see while spending time outdoors. This painting was created en plein air in the Iris flower fields of the Skagit Valley in Washington State. An overcast day is not unusual, even in May and June, so the sky is a bit gray and moody, while the high chroma of the blue iris blooms attract the eye and cheers the scene.

I enjoy painting wildlife, botanicals, and landscapes inspired by the Pacific Northwest and my travels in many parts of North America and beyond. My work is representational as well as expressive - I want to paint with an eye for true to life detail, yet I love capturing character and personality in the birds and animals that I paint. As I continue to portray my subject matter in a fairly realistic manner, I’m also developing exciting ways of creating a loose, painterly atmosphere, border, or background in my artwork. My most current work reflects this exploration into a greater diversity of mood and texture. Approaching my paintings with a playful, spontaneous attitude and finishing with areas of more focused detail gives me more than just an image but rather a story, a metaphor, or an abstracted reality.