Refreshing Poetry: A Modern Approach to Plein Air Painting at the Selu Nature Preserve
"Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth tremble and mountains fall into the heart of the sea." Psalm 43 NIV My Thesis paintings represent contemplative time spent at the Radford University Selu Nature Preserve. A search for meaning and hope, born of frustration with the pace of modern American life, breathe fresh life into my method of plein air painting. This thesis visits artists from the West, Ruskin and Constable, and Taoist Chinese and Zen painters from the East. The healing qualities of nature as mentioned by Psychologist Rollo May and my personal history as a Mennonite, have positively impacted my search. My study in painting included trips to museums in Europe where I visited seventeenth and nineteenth century Dutch paintings in Amsterdam and works by Cezanne in London. I traveled throughout Spain visiting museums encountering a recent painting by contemporary German painter, Anselm Kiefer. Presently using large canvas I summarize outdoor locations into just three sustaining categories; matter in the biosphere, energy, and water. I apply water and bright acrylic paint to flat canvas on site, capturing a trinity of qualities swiftly with minimal information. This initial vibrant under painting locks outdoor freshness into bright, lively landscape paintings. My time at Selu, the expression of my poetic voice, demonstrates my place within centuries of artists asking universal questions regarding the purpose of humanity.