I would have told you 8 years ago that painting landscapes looked like the most boring and uninteresting pursuit in art, but now the bug has me feverish with excitement. The roots may be deeper in the past, but I would say it was about 3 years ago when fellow artist and good friend Marc Anderson and I started going out in our free time to paint the beauty of nature's wonders. I think anyone with a passion would agree, the first few years are the BEST. Everything is fresh, you are learning at an expedited rate and just soaking in all the knowledge you can, just like a kid. And you feel like a kid because you are more accepting of your failures; heck, you are so naive in the beginning of any new endeavor you don't even know what "failure" looks like. I think the best environment for growth as an artist is one in which you create and explore from that inner child, and you balance it with encouraging and articulate inner critic. So for me Plein air is my new playground to learn and have fun. In addition to doing more paintings, I also am making an effort to be a part of the Plein Air community.
Natalia and I went down to the Lighthouse Plein Air Festival in south Florida last weekend and had a blast, here are some of the photos... Not a bad spot to spend an afternoon painting with fellow artists.
