Riding Mountain, June 2006

List of images

  1. Riding Mountain, June 2006 (installation)
  2. Riding Mountain, June 20 II
  3. Riding Mountain, June 20 II (detail)
  4. Riding Mountain, June 22 III
  5. Riding Mountain, June 22 III (detail)
  6. Riding Mountain, June 22 IV
  7. Riding Mountain, June 22 IV (detail)
  8. Riding Mountain, June 22 IV (detail)
  9. Riding Mountain, June 22 VIII
  10. Riding Mountain, June 22 VIII (detail)
  11. Riding Mountain, June 22 IX
  12. Riding Mountain, June 22 IX (detail)
  13. Riding Mountain, June 22 X
  14. Riding Mountain, June 22 X (detail)
  15. Riding Mountain, June 22 XII
  16. Riding Mountain, June 22 XII (detail)
  17. Riding Mountain, June 22 XIV
  18. Riding Mountain, June 22 XIV (detail)

Artist Statement

These paintings were created in the space of five days at an artist retreat near Riding Mountain National Park. All were painted outside. At least two and at most four sheets were painted consecutively at the same location. On each sheet I began at the right hand top and painted down each column to end at the left hand bottom.

The grid format freed me to concentrate successively on individual frames; storing in an orderly way a series of impressions of the landscape that shift focus from the horizon to nearby details. The eye is drawn back and forth between the overall sequence and the individual compositions. The repetition of form, the unity of the brushwork and the oftem limited palette form a concise vocabulary that can be decoded both as a reflection of the actual landscape and as an expression of the physical qualities of the painted surface.