The Inspiration Behind the Landscapes
Between living in rural small towns and traveling across the U.S., I have seen some beautiful views that have inspired me beyond words. My 2023 landscape collection is inspired by our travels to and around the Georgia coast.
First traveling through the back roads lined with expansive pastures and tall pines. Depending on the time of year, there are fields of cotton or sunflowers along the way too. So many beautiful views, that it’s hard to not stop every few miles to take photos.
Then you start to see more and more water until you get to the salt marshes. The way the grass sways and rolls in the breeze with the light bouncing off the tips is mesmerizing! It's a whole other world to explore.
The most exciting part of exploring this area are the trails that go out in every direction from the main water way. Just thinking of all the beauty each trail could lead to kept my imagination engaged. I love thinking about what beautiful little spots could be found down each of these trails and I plan to do more exploring of these in a few weeks.
Then on to the islands, where there is even more to explore. I have to say, that between Tybee, St. Simons and Jekyll Islands, there is so much to see that I wasn’t expecting. The beautiful, live oak lined streets with the Spanish moss hanging from the canopy on St.Simons Island to the sculpture like bleached trees that twist and emerge from the sand on Jekyll Island, were so inspiring and just amazing to see. Driftwood beach at sunset was perfect and I highly recommend taking a stroll if you are ever in the area.
Here are a few sketches from my handy little pocket sketchbook that I take with me everywhere I go.
When I painted the landscapes in this collection, I was pulling from my memory, the feeling I experienced in these places and some of my photos. I would say 80% comes from remembering the feeling of being there, not so much just one thing, but the smell of the salt air, the warmth of the sun, the wind while on the water and the calmness of the trees. The colors, the textures and the scale all play a roll in the experience and I wanted to capture all of those things in my paintings.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing the inspiration behind my 2023 landscape collection, I can't wait for more trips and more paintings in 2024!
