Celebrate the beauty of the great outdoors! We invited some artist friends to share their work and what inspires them. Click each name to visit their website.
I’ve just returned from a painting trip to Montana and Wyoming, and places in between. The vastness of the landscape, the rich autumn colors, the big sky and even bigger sense of possibility, this is what inspired me.
Distilling the time I spend in the woods, around the lakes and streams, and moving further into an abstraction of color and composition, is taking me on a journey of discovery both challenging and sustaining.
My work is a visceral connection to nature, blending realism and expressionism. I like to notice the ordinary and paint it to become extraordinary. My paintings are both real and imagined.
I have loved the outdoors since I was a kid, growing up on my grandfather’s farm. In this image I love the colors, the light, and how the image seems to fade into infinity.
To me, painting involves capturing the essence of the uniqueness of what I see and feel in the subject. People enjoying life, and my love for late afternoon shadows inspired me to paint this scene of people ice skating at “Frog Pond” in Boston, Massachusetts.
“Flying Home” is a hopeful painting about an early morning, bathed in warm pinks, yellows and blues and three geese flying off together. My images come to me from my meditations and I feel that is reflected here. This brings to mind a quote from Henry David Thoreau, “You cannot perceive beauty but with a serene mind.”
Nature is a source of limitless inspiration for me. I never tire of its fast-moving weather and moods, and watching the clouds and light dance across the water, mountains and woods.
My work is inspired by the hardworking lifestyle of local people, along with the varied landscapes found throughout New England. I combine and weave many aspects together in a semi-abstract design approach, creating layered painterly surfaces with expressive color.
My art is comprised of energetically applied colors, layered, texture upon texture. Then the scratching of the surface, uncovering what lies beneath, reveals the unexpected. The materials used – paper, wood, burlap, beeswax – all help contribute to the organic nature of my work.
“The Long Road to Freedom” is from my series highlighting the physical and psychological terrain traversed by refugees as they flee their homeland. They are literally in the great outdoors with no shelter or security.
Art and the outdoors fit cohesively together in my barnscape photography. The opportunity to showcase and preserve our country’s agricultural landscape through photography is an exciting adventure.
Snow Dollkinson
Using mixed media, I create paintings that respond to each other in a vibrant choreography, some figurative and organic, some geometrical and abstracts.
The natural world juxtaposes intriguing color notes, abstract forms, and design elements for study. My camera captures the raw material; Photoshop distills it. I use soft pastels to paint vivid florals, still lifes with fruit and Montana landscapes.
I live in Inwood Park, the last natural forest in the northern tip of Manhattan. This drawing by the Henry Hudson Bridge shows the beauty and power of nature in its raw and organic state.
Twenty acres of woods that are adjacent to a gorge in western New York inspire me daily. Using paint, clay or mixed media, my work captures the many moods, lines, colors and textures of nature.
“Calming Morning” is a stunning landscape photograph of a historic stone wall in Brandywine Creek State Park in Wilmington, Delaware, with a single tree standing in the middle of a field on a foggy morning. This photograph was created to capture the calmness of the scene on the quiet morning before the sun could burn off the dense fog that seemed to cling to the land.
Susan Marx
Nature is my frame of reference. I am concerned with light and what light does to color, which is why I call myself an Abstract Impressionist and A Painter Who Loves Color.
Kiauna Yvette
I photograph so that you can see how I view the world through my eyes and the passion, joy, and inspiration that nature brings. When I’m in nature I feel peace. I hope that my passion inspires others to achieve greatness!
If you can place yourself in my painting, you can almost hear the sound of the bird gently wading through the shallows. So peaceful. If you feel this, then I have accomplished my goal.
Our awesome world is an inspiration to me every day. Everything from a small ripple in a stream, to a beautiful morning sunrise, wonders that will keep me painting always!
H.K. Anne
Most of my landscapes are up close and complicated, which I feel reflects our time in history. I translate my photos of the landscape to canvas conveying a feeling rather than place recognition.
Suzahn King
As they say here in Costa Rica, “Pura Vida.” Art is life here, surrounded by a pallet of a thousand colors, constantly changing, constantly renewing. My inspiration to paint is everywhere; the jungle, the people.
My art is constantly inspired by the world around us – land & sky. I am obsessed with its ethereal light, however, I prefer to play with it, rather than treat it in a “literal” sense.
The subjects I choose to paint spark in me the need to create. This picture was painted using a plein air sketch. Plein Air painting is for me the most magical pursuit of all.
I have been on a year-long study into the movement and power of big wave surfing. I try to capture the richness in color of the waves in a way that still looks like a painting.
I love being outdoors and taking in the imagery, colors, shapes, patterns and textures of the natural world. My encaustic and mixed media compositions often explore the concepts of nature’s beauty, growth, changes and destruction.
Great article and thank you for sharing our work.
Thank you! There is so much beauty in our world!
This is one of my favorite showcase articles – I love the way different artists interpret nature and the world.
Honored to be included in this article. Surfs up everyone!
Lovely article! I just love seeing all the beautiful work. Thank you for including mine!
Wonderful article!! It’s an honor to be included amongst such beautiful work. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Thanks for including me in this article. One more piece in the art marketing puzzle.
Appreciate this talented group of artists and each unique perspective. Many thanks for the inclusion. ~ H. K. Anne
Lovely images all! Thank you for including me in the article, Carolyn.
Thank you for including me in this great showcase – so many different perspectives on the great out doors!
awesome, particularly like the one by Len Cicio
thank you Gustavo for the kind comment and encouragement! Len
I love the use of texture in these paintings. Really beautiful and well thought out
Couldn’t think of anything more enjoyable to do while I’m chewing my salad at work then to look at all this beautiful art. Thank you Carolyn for including me with all these talented people!
Thanks for including my image. I feel honored to be featured among so many talented artists.