The appeal of the natural world is universal and, as a result, landscapes remain an enduring genre as varied as the world around us and the artists who paint them. In December, Mockingbird Gallery will showcase five well-known artists that exemplify the different approaches that can be brought to the art of traditional landscapes.
Among them is Silas Thompson, who has been giving a lot of thought to why particular pieces have a stronger impact than others.
Shanna Kunz, Allure, oil, 24 x 60"
“Landscape paintings in general are very apt tools of the maturing of a pleasure,” says Thompson. “We have been to a place; we have seen it with our eyes; we even took a picture of it, but the memory is something different. The impression—if it is a lasting one—includes vagueness, intensity, lost edges…and that impression is closer to the truth of the memory than pixels can express.” His piece Winter Escape plays on themes related to memory. The result of several studies completed while snowshoeing along a creek, “It is meant to symbolize the beginning of the resurrection phase of nature and the hope element of the cyclical liturgy that the trees and the dirt, and the sky dance to,” explains Thompson. “The creek and its contrast remains as a reminder that as the long, cold, necessary beauty of winter gives way, life always escapes.”
Mitch Baird, Subtle Smoke, oil, 9 x 12"
Tad Retz, another featured artist in the show, is compelled to paint a scene based on elements of design, values and textural possibilities. He began painting landscapes because they are so easily accessible and it combined two of his passions—learning how to become a better painter and exploring new places. “I strive for a timeless look in my landscape paintings because I have a deep appreciation for old paintings and their character,” he says. “I try to bring this old, not perfect, rough look to my own work.” He completed Spring Birch on location, taken by the prominence of the birch in the last grasp of winter.
Silas Thompson, Winter’s Escape, oil, 30 x 40"
Subtle Smoke, by Mitch Baird, was created in plein air on a painting trip in Glacier National Park, while wildfires raged all around. One evening the smoke began to lift and “I was struck by this view and the striking affect the atmosphere had on the mountains,” he recalls. “It was ghostly with muted colors but beautiful with its subtle harmonies in warm and cool.”
Baird was also initially attracted to painting landscapes because the subject was so easily accessible, but also for their inherent elements of design. “The harmonies and organic opportunities are always present,” says Baird. “The timeless aspect of natural landscape is that it may change with growth, seasons and living cycles but it doesn’t change through human fads and is something that everyone experiences and can relate to.”
Tad Retz, Spring Birch, oil, 8 x 10"
Artists Shanna Kunz and Marc R. Hanson will also be featured in Lasting Impressions, which opens at Mockingbird Gallery on December 1 with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m., and runs through the remainder of the month. —
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