My Semester Plan

The subject of my works are of American landscapes. My landscapes that I create are of the Rocky Mountains, forest, the big sky of Montana, the Badlands, the Great Lakes, & the desert. The Form of my work is expressed by breaking down color, form, & space of a particular landscape. My paintings are categorized as abstract expressionism. The materials I use are oil & canvas. The reason why I am inspired by American landscapes, is because traveling to these places makes me appreciate the country that which I live. Our land is vast & beautiful offering us every type of terrain. In these American Landscapes we can: play, explore, dream, & discover. We can to be happy or sad. We can share moments with the one(s) we love or to find God. Going to a particular place can bring a sense of emotion.

My Research will consist of: Looking at American landscape photography & re-working landscapes they way I view & emotionally react to them. This will be done in my sketchbook. I will be reading more about the abstract-expressionist & the subject(s) of the their work. Looking back at my photographs that i have taken of American landscapes & remember what that particular terrain made me feel at that moment in time.

My materials are oil & canvas. the process for each one of my paintings starts off with a wash of a particular color that will be the most consistent in a painting. Generally after a wash of paint I use OMS solvent to let it drip down from the top to let it run to the base of my canvas. I do this to create my first layer of bleeding. Sometimes I only use OMS solvent in certain areas of my painting. I keep repeating the washing & bleeding process till i have enough layers to work with. I then go in with oil paint and start with basic shapes. I use a makeup blush brush and re-work the paint to create areas of intense blending. I then create more layers with OMS solvent; which more bleeding occurs.

I will be making about 3-4 paintings a week. Large in size. 4ft x 6ft ( average) but some will be bigger.

I want to have over twenty paintings before the fall semester is over. I want to have large paintings & a large & consistent body of work.

I would like to have an individual critique every other week and my first group critique in the middle of September and my second critique late October or the first week of November.