It’s All About the Landscape!!

So….I’ve been thinking alot about landscapes. I think it is something that sits with me comfortably. Ever since I was a little twinkie I’ve been the happiest out in nature–camping, hiking, just messing around. Truth be told, when I was in high school a little group of artsys I hung with worked to start a movement. Yeah, we had a manifesto and everything. It was all about nature, most importantly: The Lake–and The Lake was always capitalized in writing and in discussion. When I finally landed my own car, we would actually cut school to go paint in the park or of course, our beloved Lake. Being that I was in the vocational part of high school for art, many times we could talk ourselves out of major trouble by just bringing in our canvases. No joke. Most kids cut school to go the mall, we cut to paint. Sounds like the beginning of one of those troubled artist movies, doesn’t it.

But, all that cutting school to paint payed off with a scholarship to art school. All the artsys went to diffent schools, the movement lost momentum physically, but it is still thriving in parts of my heart. In art school I was all about BIG. No HUGE paintings. They were abstract landscapes where I lost myself in a flood of lime greens and teals. These babies actually sold too, which was always a surprise to me.

Yeah, I’m going back to the good ol’ days. I’m going to explore the idea of a landscape all over again. It is time for a revival–a resurection of that part of myself that painted because it kept my blood flowing.

I found this artist on etsy, that I have to admit I have fallen in love with. (If only I was single and ten years younger!) His work is absolutely AMAZING! I am in great envy of how the pixels on my monitor are granted permission to reflect the beauty of his paintings! Yeah, that’s how much I’m digging his work–things are starting to come out all cheesey and sappy. His name is Chad Wys and you can find his website here.

The thing about Chad’s landscapes is that, to me, they are memories. When I first saw them, all I could think of was the roadtrip Hansel and I took from Cleveland, Ohio to Phoenix, Arizona a couple years ago. I’ve never had the opportunity before to actually drive through the midwest. I fell in love with the rolling landscape of Indiana and Illinois. The way the green and blue met each other in a tumble. Hours were irrelevant, with the hills of the landscape keeping up with the speed of the car. At night, in some strange hotel, I could see those colors still rolling and blending in my mind. The landscape made the hot sun, and rough ride of my jeep, softer. Chad’s paintings are snapshots of my memory. A memory that is a bridge between one life and the next. This, my friends, is what art and paintings is suppose to do.

Here’s another awesome artist I found on Etsy. Her Etsy name is Pamelam. She also does these way too cool paintings of coffee cups. I was mesmerized by the way she handles color in these babies!. But, if you don’t already know, I need to force myself to focus, or this post–this blog would be a 24 hour deal! Landscape…but a totally different ball game from Chad’s work. I love the boldness with the dashes of color she does here. Look at that little blue pache hanging out in the tree! Love it! Then the ground…this is where I start to get personal…I can’t help but think of my beloved city here in AZ: Sedona. It’s like Sedona on the brink of Spring, where grass is growing but the red earth hasn’t been completely covered over yet. Also, I like the sense of texture and dreaminess she’s incorporated into this piece. Just another little nugget I’m going to use for my own inspiration!

Last, in my ponderings and beginning excitement about landscapes…here is a painting by an artist named Franck De Las Mercedes, or on Etsy you can find him as: ElArte. Now if you’re going to talk about dreamy…you must check out his work. Look at this painting for one thing. Absolutely it’s a landscape, in the greatest of essence. It’s like how a landscape appears when you are in love for the first time. When you have that feeling of wanting to run barefoot through a field of tall grass. Ok. Maybe I’m the only one that has ever had that feeling, but, this painting is the best depiction of it! Do you realize what control and precision it takes to create a painting with that much dripage going on?!?! Seriously, the drip is an effective tool, but you have to know when, how, and when not to go crazy with it. This guy figured it out in this piece. I love it! Good stuff.

Now back to my own painting!

Peace & Love.