My father introduced me to his painting friends, most of whom were cigar smoking plein air painters. I didn’t much care for the cigars, but I fell in love with painting on location. I’d been an avid outdoor adventurer in my youth backpacking and hiking whenever I could. Packing up my paints and heading outdoors just felt like an extension of that except that I could come home and sleep in my bed and take a hot shower! In my more recent painting life the plein air work has been magnetically pulling me more and more. Nowadays I find myself primarily drawn to working outside though I continue to abstract from the plein air work in my studio work. I have found my own painting friends and there isn’t a cigar in sight!
