2020 Watercolors
Appalachian Lockdown - Watercolors Vol. I
I’ve been making watercolors since I first traveled to Siberia as a student in 1994. That trip changed my life, and sent me home with my first serious body of work. I’m continuously drawn back to the watercolors because of their spontaneity, immediacy, and fragility. When the Coronavirus pandemic began to seriously sink in I found my concentration in the studio shortening and veering off track. I decided to carve out a part of each day to paint watercolors outside. Because watercolors are so delicate, and the margin between good and horrible so thin, I’m forced to be extremely present in the moment. Being stationery and painting in the middle of the woods for a couple hours each day has almost been a kind of elixir. It’s also spring here in the Appalachian mountains of Pennsylvania, and the thaw and rebirth of the forest and all the creatures within it has injected a much needed dose of color and life. These paintings are improvisations on the landscape around me, but also what is brimming within.