Mother Nature’s Magic

Aged to Perfection
Oil
30″x30″
“I’m very attracted to a sense of drama. That can be an extraordinary sky, or a fog-filled meadow, or some ancient tree that is just calling me to paint it. I’ve been known to stop and just stand before a tree as if it were the Taj Mahal, and I get this sense of profound wonder and even reverence. There needs to be a connection before I paint something, and I especially love painting at dusk and dawn, when there is an ethereal quality to the light, a veiled sense of wonder and mystery.

Peggy Immel (Taos, New Mexico)

Autumn In New Mexico
Oil
18″x24″
“I’m fortunate that the incredible and varied landscape near my home in Taos provides an unending source of inspiration. The same vista will be entirely different, depending on the year and the season. Some locations have become like old friends, and I’m always excited to see what a particular spot has to offer each time I visit it. “My paintings begin with an idea. Sometimes the idea is a visual one.

Gary Huber (Buffalo, Wyoming)

Zion’s Embrace
Pastel
18″x18″
“My first landscapes were done when I was 5 years old, under the auspices of my mother, who was a professional artist trained at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art. We painted together in the Pennsylvania Dutch farmland surrounding our home. It wasn’t called en plein air back then; it was just painting. I don’t remember Mom telling me what to do. She just said, ‘Paint what you see.’ She was focused on her own work, and this was a way to keep me occupied while she worked.

Cecy Turner (Dallas, Texas and Estes Park, Colorado)

Tucked in for the Winter
Oil
20″x24″
Outdoor scenes inspire me the most, probably because I’ve always loved the outdoors. From an early age, I would do just about anything to be outdoors during the day. Landscapes I love to paint most are bathed in the late afternoon light. What I love about this time of day is the golden light, the long afternoon-cast shadows over the land, and the beautiful colors of the sunset and twilight skies. I prefer looking into the light instead of having it behind me.

Dan Young (Silt, Colorado)

Tis the Season
Oil
14″x18″
I have been painting the landscape for 25 years—well, physically painting it. I have been mentally painting it, exploring it, and learning to understand it my entire life. Growing up in Colorado, immersed in the landscape, has been a huge influence on my painting. When I was a child, we didn’t go to Disneyland; my parents opened the door and turned us loose, something I’m very thankful for and am trying to pass on to my daughter. My inspiration comes from my experience out in the landscape. I have almost a daily pilgrimage outside.