Between 2003-2010 I dedicated my practice to capturing rural areas of New York State, including; Delaware, Ostego, Chenango, Oneida, Westchester, and Ultser counties. I was particularily inspired by the overlap of farmlands and wilderness in the northern Catskills. Painting on site along roadsides allowed me to meet many locals who often invited me into their homes and offered me unofficial artist residencies, allowing me to transplant myself for long stretches of time in rural communities. Other times I’d stay in cheap roadside motels reverse commuting home to Jersey City on weekends.
*Most paintings in this gallery were painted directly on site while some were developed at the studio based on plein air sketches.
Blue & Green Landscapes (images 23-37) was a series inspired by the lush greens and serene blues I experienced in Downsville, NY during a Meditative Painting Retreat I co-lead in 2012. I had a powerful plein air painting experience whereby, after a cold gray winter in the city, my senses were overwhelmed by the textures and colors of a Catskill valley in springtime. This powerful contrast heightened my senses during that first day out and the single plein air sketch led to the following series of studio paintings.
