Landscape Art Semi-abstract Viewer Reference

Reference Point

 When painting my small semi abstract landscapes I feel a need to find a place where the viewer can access my plein air art.  Where can the eye of the viewer find a reference point to start looking at the painting?  The main way I try to achieve this is through the use of perspective.  Even when I paint abstracts invariably there is a line.

 Why the Line

 Years ago I used to wonder why I felt a need to create that line in my art – either realistically or abstractly.  Why the line across the canvas?  Even if there is disruption of the line broken up with objects or other lines, behind those intrusions there is the line.   In my case one would have thought that should be easily figured out.  I say that because since I was a small boy I have seen the ocean almost every day of my life.  I lived either with a direct view or a block or two from the beach.  Even the years when I was in the armed services I couldn’t escape the ocean as I was in the Navy.  And for seventeen years my studio had a full on, white-water ocean view. And for fifty years my home had a ocean view.

 It all seems so obvious now but one time I was sitting on the beach, looking out at the ocean and there it was.  The line I had been seeing every day.  The blue sky – the blue ocean. The horizon was right there slashed across my view.

Impressionism Art Wildling Museum Exhibition

I like to go out into the countryside and create these small impressionism paintings. It’s a true busman’s holiday to take tine away from studio painting to do other paintings.  That is what an artist’s life can be like.  What I do for a living is also what I like to do for fun. It is a good break away from the demanding large scale sports paintings that I created in my studio.  

  Wildling  Museum Art Exhibition

 Currently the Wildling Museum in Solvang, Ca. is showing 65 of my small landscapes and seascapes paintings in a group show called “Bio/Mass'” Quote from the Wildling Museum; “Our upcoming exhibition, 'Bio/Mass' will feature an inspiring group of eleven contemporary artists who have transformed their fascination with deep observations of their individual environments into works that help us to see the beauty in the details of our world, celebrating both quiet and dramatic moments in nature”. My wife, Lynn Hanson @indigopond on instagram is included in the show.  Currently the museum only has public walk-In hours: Saturday - Sunday, 11 A.M. - 4 P.M but, hopefully they will soon be opened on weekdays too. 

 I live close to farm fields and rural countryside so I like to go out and create “en plein air paintings” and as others refer to my impressionistic painting, alla prima. Alla prima painting is described as technique in which the painting (usually painted from life) is completed in one sitting or while the paint is still wet. Painting in this manner is a break from the art created in the confines of my studio

Art News Museum Show Opening

 My landscape art is being installed at the Wildling Museum in Solvang, Ca. for an upcoming group show.  I will have 65 small, expressive and impressionistic landscape paintings in the art opening exhibition.  

Quote from the Wildling Museum; “Our upcoming exhibition, 'Bio/Mass' will feature an inspiring group of eleven contemporary artists who have transformed their fascination with deep observations of their individual environments into works that help us to see the beauty in the details of our world, celebrating both quiet and dramatic moments in nature”. No date is set but they anticipate a late April opening and will be on exhibit until September 2021.

 The nature of the art is plein air using the alla prima technique of wet on wet painting.  Materials are oil on unstretched and treated canvas.  The art ranges from 2 inches by 3 inches up to 12” x 12 inches by 16 inches.

Impressionism Painting in Gallery Show.

Landscape “Five and Six in a Row” 11 x 17 oil on treated, unstretched canvascanvas

 Gallery Art

Currently a couple of my small paintings is in gallery group gallery  show. (see previous post) I have memories of certain scenes - landscapes I have seen either recently or in the past. Because of where I live, I see the ocean and agriculture fields almost every day.  They become my subject matter from my imagination of what I have previously seen.

Plein Air Painting

I also enjoy painting plein air.  It brings me great satisfaction – although what I paint when outside on one of my outdoor trips is not always what I am looking at.  I certainly get inspiration from the view but I generally do not try and capture nature.  I’m not trying to reproduce a scene.  A camera does a much better job than that.  What I try and do is illicit a feeling of the countryside and try to capture that in paint.  That is why some of my landscapes have an abstract quality to them.    

Impressionism Paintings art opening Vita Gallery Ventura, Ca.

Impressionism Painting Art

 We had an art show opening at Vita Gallery in Ventura last Sat night. These are a few of my impressionism paintings on display. They let a dozen people in at a time for 45 min over the afternoon and early evening. All spots booked for the opening of "Viewing Ventura". Twelve artists have created pieces representing Ventura in Southern California. The show is available for viewing until Jan 14, 2021 .

 The area around Ventura, Ca has plenty of agriculture fields which is a favorite subject of mine to paint.. What I like is the vanishing line of the horizon stretched out across the farm fields. In high school I took architectural drafting for a couple of years, expecting to be a draftsman. .We had to create a number of perspective drawings.. The influence of that education haunts a lot of my landscape and seascape paintings.

Vita Gallery group Show

Although I am known for my sports paintings in stadiums and sports arenas I do paint other work. In this case I created a couple of small paintings for a group show. These small landscapes are at Vita Gallery in Ventura California. The show is up through Christmas.

The subject matter are the Agricultural field that’s around Ventura area. This is a big farming community so I see the agricultural fields almost every day.