Painting Your Life

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

The Inn of Mother Anthony Pierre-Auguste Renoir

We have always felt that, as plein air painters, we are observers of the landscape—recording moments and places that can rapidly transform with fleeting changes of light. In a pure landscape, figures and animals are rendered small and insignificant against the vast backdrop of nature.

In our portrait and still life work, we are observers of the intimate—the interior worlds of home and studio. Here, the figure, the object, the people and animals which inhabit these spaces become the dominant focus, and we attempt to lift these interior portraits up to the grand level of a landscape. Finding and expressing a connection with those people, objects and animals is essential to the expressive power and ultimately, success of these works. The rule is simple: paint what you know and love. And so it is that we paint our beloved animal companions—our studio dogs. Not only are they patient and generally serene models, but they…