Painting in the Flint Hills

Part I

Spring in the Flint Hills II Oil John Hulsey

“As to the scenery (giving my own thought and feeling) while I know the standard claim is that Yosemite, Niagara Falls, the Upper Yellowstone, and the like afford the greatest natural shows, I am not so sure but the prairies and plains, while less stunning at first sight, last longer, fill the esthetic sense fuller, precede all the rest, and make North America’s characteristic landscape. Even (the prairie’s) simplest statistics are sublime.”
-Walt Whitman, Specimen Days (1879)

Moving back to the Midwest from the Hudson Highlands of New York many years ago required a readjustment of our artistic eyes. The immediate beauty of the Hudson River and its surroundings was like Disneyland compared to the subtle and contemplative beauty of the plains and prairies. One of the greatest skills we must have as artists is that of being still. And being still in the Flint Hills allows the artist to be present for the unfolding…