Artist Statement

I have always sought out wild creatures and serene landscapes as subjects. Working with my mentor, John Collias, a highly schooled artist from Chicago, I have refined my oil painting to a combination of impasto techniques. At present, I under paint, using a brush and build up layers which I leave to dry. The final painting is performed using painting knives and building values upon dry layers. This adds luminence and texture. I am drawn to the heavy, clean texture of oil paint that has been mixed without any influence from medium or brush residue.

Nature is a composition of textures which oil paint and the knife help to reveal in my goal of impressionism. Soft wide skies, hard edged rock, soft water, vast perspective, bright and subdued vegetation present a demanding combination of textures that I find fascinating.

I hope the viewer is inspired by the presentation of work that opens a door, provides a pathway into a vast landscape in a large painting. Painting actual places provides true evidence of nature and man together. I do my best to give an impression of my experience with a landscape and to the people it holds. Finally, I hope to keep the viewer in the painting by finding an eye line that is not escaped until the rewards are felt.

Norman Nelson
Paintings
407 W Bannock
Boise, Idaho 83702
208-336-0349
echofilm@mindspring.com