Oh, to live the life of a landscape painter, to be blessed with the ability to see—and put down with paint—the beauty that surrounds us, beauty that too many of us take for granted. Each outing is an adventure, a sensory immersion into the sights, sounds, smells, and feel the great outdoors.

Grace Schlesier

Show Off (Yosemite in Fall)
Oil
16″x20″
“Painting the landscape is where I feel most at home. It makes me happy. My studio work springs from the sketches and studies done on location, since I find nature the best teacher. Larger studio works often take months to complete. I don’t rush the studio work, and many I keep, sometimes over a year, before I’ll finally sign my name.”

Ann Larsen (New York)

Bow Lake
Oil
16″x20″
“I have always been drawn to the landscape. I love being out in nature, trying to interpret a moment in time, a feeling, an emotion. I am constantly exploring observing and pushing myself to work hard to find the right balance between reality and abstraction that I am seeking when I paint.”

Paula Holtzclaw (North Carolina)

Carolina Afternoon
Oil
30″x40″
“I must paint landscapes, because I enjoy being outdoors and just can’t help but see paintings everywhere. I love painting skies and, in particular, the natural, unspoiled areas of our coastal lowlands here on the East Coast This area has a distinct peace and calmness to it, especially in the evenings at sunset.”

Carol Swinney (Wyoming)

Layers of Desert Color
Oil
9″x12″
“Simply put, I paint landscape, because I love the immeasurable amount of subject matter I find in this gorgeous West we live in. I was born on a 13,000-acre cattle ranch at the base of Casper Mountain in Casper, Wyoming. And the rolling foothills and distant mountains were what I grew up with.”

Peter Fiore (Pennsylvania)

Passage-Genesis
Oil
72″x72″
“I’m not a traditional landscape painter. The armature for my paint is a representation of a landscape, but all of it is a metaphor for humanity. Trees are a stand in for universal life on this planet. They can express sorrow, joy, and vulnerability, as well as majesty. The landscape allows me to paint somewhat more abstractly while maintaining a representational image.”