"Painting Nature Close-Up" An exploration of the outdoors and what nature offers through detailed brushstrokes and a limited colour palette.
I am constantly exploring the outside world near my home studio in Cambridge, Ontario and my outdoor summer studio in Northern Ontario. Feeling that inspiration and connection to nature is essential to my creativity. I am always looking at nature close-up, for that focused snapshot to paint, for that moment frozen in time.
Mesmerized by the tiny details, the shadows and the light,
this focus is what I strive to capture through realistic oil paintings within my work of florals, botanicals and wildlife.
In my recent body of work, a monochromatic colour palette emphasizes these shadows through numerous layers of black and white oil paint and a thin layer of translucent colour. Minimal colour is used on only a portion of the painting to allow contrast, focus and the viewer's eye to travel across the canvas. With the final result being more about the image and less about the background, the canvas is painted in a neutral tone with varying degrees of greyscale depending on the subject matter.