Description
This painting is about the quiet rhythm of the West, the kind of winter day when the landscape becomes nearly colorless, yet somehow more beautiful. A line of cattle moves through the pale trees, their dark forms creating a strong horizon against the softness of the snow and winter sky.
I wanted the cattle to feel almost woven into the landscape rather than simply placed within it. They belong here. There is something comforting to me about that familiar sight: cattle gathered together, trees stripped bare, and the land resting beneath winter. I allowed the painting to move between representation and abstraction. Layers of whites, soft blues, dusty pinks, lavender, earth tones and heavy dark marks build the landscape, while splatters and broken brushwork suggest falling snow, movement and atmosphere.
Up close, much of the painting dissolves into paint; from across the room, the herd and the landscape begin to emerge. Growing up around cattle in Montana, scenes like this carry a sense of home for me. Ranch life isn’t always dramatic. Often, its beauty is found in these ordinary, quiet moments.
