ARTIST'S STATEMENT
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I have been asked many times why I don't put people in my paintings. My answer is that my art is about place, not man. Although I often show signs of man's intervention on the landscape it is usually minimal, a reminder of what was versus what now is. The intent of my art is not to specifically paint the "disappearing landscape" but rather to search out places that imbue a feeling of calm and restore the sense of a private place.
The ability to develop a feeling or mood that a particular place evokes is the essence of the technique I use to develop a painting. I search out places that speak to me, either because of specific compositional features or the prevailing atmospheric conditions. My goal is never to exactly replicate a specific view or scene but rather to interpret and translate the feelings that I absorb from the site. This means repeated visits to the area, sketching and photographing the scene under varying light and weather conditions until I can say that "I know this place". The relevant factor in this approach is my ability to visualize the scene from my notes, sketches, and photographs, so that when I place a canvas on the easel in my studio and begin to block in the composition, it is as if I were outdoors, standing at the site, preparing to paint in plein-air fashion.
G.K. Chesterton said "...the artists duty is keeping awake the sense and wonder, of place, in the world." That challenge is part of every painting that I make.
(c)2008 Jack Cayton
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