ARTIST’S STATEMENT
About four years ago I moved to Eastern Oregon from Sacramento, California, motivated by a desire to live in a rural area with lots of open space and a chance to focus more on my art. My original art training focused on the human figure but a few years ago I became interested in exploring landscape imagery. While the California Central Valley has some stunning scenery, my outdoor painting sessions were often interrupted by the roar of a nearby freeway, or a view of a large housing subdivision creeping at the edges of a beautiful open meadow. I realized I wanted to live in and paint a landscape less dominated by encroaching structures and the noise of development.
It was during one of several road trips through the Pacific Northwest that I became intrigued by the unusual landscape of Eastern Oregon. The seemingly endless vistas were a huge change from the claustrophobia of city living. As I drove over long empty roads, the gently rolling hills of golden wheat and sagebrush were a marvelous contrast to deeply shadowed canyons in late afternoon light. I am still learning about the geology of the area, but I cannot help but think that water, in the form of massive ancient floods, have strongly shaped this flowing terrain. It is a landscape that possesses great presence. It is this presence as well as what I call “quietness” that I most try to capture in my paintings.
My painting technique utilizes traditional oil glazing. This approach starts with a carefully rendered two-tone grisaille or grey-white underpainting. My underpainting also incorporates a deliberate stipple texture, evoking the very surface of the land. Over this textured underpainting, I gradually apply many layers of oil glaze (oil paint and alkyd medium) which set into a jewel-like finish. Like pieces of different colored stained glass stacked on top of one another, the many layers of translucent oil glazes create a luminous image of form and color.
I find the oil glazing approach very meditative and by working on the same image over several weeks I’m better able to examine and explore the subtleties of the landscape. The light, especially in late afternoons, marvelously accentuates the sensuous forms of the terrain. Artists who have influenced my landscape painting include Thomas Hart Benton, Maynard Dixon, Gary Earnest Smith, and John Register. As I continue to paint the landscape of Eastern Oregon, I find myself interested in exploring a more abstract interpretation of its flowing forms, thereby distilling and concentrating its power to convey a captivating presence.
Catherine Lee
Condon, OR
October 2008