As an artist of western landscapes I look to the land for inspiration and other artists.

Frederic Remington (1861-1909) was one of our country’s first western painters.  He said, “I knew the wild riders and the vacant land were about to vanish forever….and the more I considered the subject, the bigger the forever loomed.  Without knowing how to do it, I began to record some facts around me, and the more I looked the more the panorama unfolded.”    Remington was the first artist to show the true gait of the horse in motion!  He recorded the western life of the cowboy in detail.

I first studied his work to present it in my art curriculum at school.  It did not spark my imagination until I saw the Denver Art Museum’s special exhibit of some of his night paintings.  The paintings were presented in lower light allowing the viewer to appreciate the “different” kinds of night light that happens in nature.  Most times I take photographs to use as reference material, however even our cameras today do not capture all the nuances of light.   Remington said “the artist must know more than the camera”.   If you are in Denver be sure to check out the Denver Art Museum’s permanent collection of Remington art work.

Here is a link to the museum’s web site: http://denverartmuseum.org