Reviewing and cleaning up my photo drive and came across photos from 2020. In January of that year I was welcomed into the New Hampshire Art Association and participated in my first group show. Though I had been experimenting for years, I consider my NHAA juried status and the first show as the beginning of my full commitment to pursuing my art.
My work at that time was heavy textured, abstract acrylics. Though these look to be a far cry from my current work, they served as a foundation for learning basic composition, and for me, the patterns mimicked those found in nature. This is also when I began to focus on developing an art practice that I truly enjoyed.
There was one piece I created during this time that served as a seed of inspiration when I used the texture to capture the movement of a stream. There was something about seeing this piece....
In 2021, I officially took the texture from abstract and began creating the landscapes I was inspired by in my outdoor adventures. My favorite of that group of work was "Found It" and was inspired by an old farm road I stumbled upon that opened up into along abandoned agricultural field. These works made me realize what truly inspired me and by focusing on the landscapes where I spend my time, have resulted in a process that I truly love.
What's the next evolution? I do have plans to, not only create a body of work that has both texture and map pieces, but to see how these can be combined....stay tuned!