Field Work

The basis for my field work is seeing and drawing. It is a way for me to experience the various elements of a landscape, cityscape or figurative work: light, shadow, form, mass, texture and color. I was fortunate enough to study with one of North America's great animal field artists, the late William D. Berry.

Field work is often unfinished, in part due to the transitory nature of creating artwork outdoors. The clouds move, the light changes or the caribou wander off out of sight. These works are often studies or sketches which are the basis of works completed later in the studio. The works shown here were all completed in the field, whether it be on the north slope of Alaska or in the vineyards of Spain or the wilds of a middle school social. In the latter cases, I was fortunate that the creatures modeling for me were able to hold still for longer poses than their natural counterparts.