WHY PAINT? How do you describe the feeling you get when you see something that you just have to paint? It's exhilarating; it's pure & honest inspiration; it's bliss. It seems to capture a slice of life, something special and worth sharing. I especially admire artists who take familiar, ordinary scenes and make them extraordinary. Watching the way light can strike a scene and transform it from mundane and dull to captivating and full of energy is an absolutely humbling experience for me. I paint places and things that are important to me for reasons that are sometimes hard to describe. As a full time professional artist I mostly I paint plein air (painting on location) in both watercolor and oil, but I do quite a bit of studio work too. With both approaches I try to seek out and paint subjects with authenticity; something that seizes the day and expresses my emotional & intellectual experience at the time. In a time when photography and technology are documenting and sharing experience in real time with never-ending detail and analysis, I am fascinated by the question: "Why paint? What is the role of a traditional landscape painter in this day and age?" I'm not entirely sure, but I feel like it's a privilege and an honor to paint and share it with others, and I try to enjoy that opportunity every chance I get!!