Diamonds in Your Own Backyard

Perspectives from the Artist's Road

John Hulsey painting in his backyard

I love to travel around the U.S. and Europe to paint. I have been honored to have been selected to work as an artist in residence in numerous National Parks. There is something very freeing about being in a beautiful environment, far from our day-to-day concerns with nothing else to think about but inspiration and painting. Our hearts and spirits soar in those moments, but they are generally relatively rare in our everyday art lives. The remainder of our art-making hours are spent at home, in our studios and communities. Except for those who live in wonderfully scenic locations, most of us live in ordinary places, like the Midwest, where I live. Can beauty and inspiration also be found there? Of course! However, it can take some extra effort to find the diamonds in our own backyards.

Everyone has either a backyard or a neighborhood in which to find interesting painting subjects, but often, we don’t consider what …