Under the Big Dipper IX Painting

The ideas for my paintings come from my imagination, and memories of places that I have seen and been too, here the rural Midwestern Heartland. I paint my landscapes simply, from my heart. In my paintings, I want to capture the feeling of peaceful, quiet, isolation, found out in the country. I have always had a fascination with old the old farmhouses and barns found on the old country farmsteads, here in the Heartland. Some of my fondest childhood memories and inspiration, are of the visits to my grandparent's remote Midwestern farm. Set down a very long lane, that eventually wound around the old barn, horse pasture, granary, corn crib, machine shed, chicken house, to then end up at their old farmhouse, with its white picket fence in the yard beyond. The croquet set would be on the lawn and Grandma would have one of her homemade pies waiting on the kitchen counter. A little bit of heaven here on earth, it felt to me back then when I was a kid! I live and paint inThe ideas for my paintings come from my imagination, and memories of places that I have seen and been to, here in the countryside of the rural Midwestern Heartland. I paint my landscapes simply, from my heart. In my paintings, I want to capture the feeling of peaceful, quiet, isolation, found out in the country. I have always had a fascination with old the old farmhouses and barns found on the old country farmsteads, here in the Heartland. Some of my fondest childhood memories and inspiration, are of the visits to my grandparent's remote Midwestern farm. Set down a very long lane, that eventually wound around the old barn, horse pasture, granary, corn crib, machine shed, chicken house, to then end up at their old farmhouse, with its white picket fence in the yard beyond. The croquet set would be on the lawn and Grandma would have one of her homemade pies waiting on the kitchen counter. A little bit of heaven here on earth, it felt to me back then when I was a kid! I live and paint in a quiet, rural setting in the Midwest. My contemporary paintings of the American heartland are inspired by the beauty and vastness of the simple, back country landscape. My painting style leans towards Realism, with a touch of the Abstract at times, although I often use elements of Tonalism and Minimalism in them. I have been inspired by the Tonalists, Hudson River School Artists, Minimalists, Abstract & Realist artists for my art.