My current work has ventured away from strictly landscape painting into a plane somewhere between landscape and still life. For lack of a better term I refer to these works as “Stillscapes.” Attempting to create still lifes that are a natural extension of the landscape, I have stripped down the foreground components to represent simplified, utilitarian groupings that find symbolism in the agrarian culture. The fragile foods of the still life are liberated from their traditional interior confinement and reunited with the land of their origin. The still lifes rest on draped fabrics mimicking the folds and planes of the land.

It is important for the work to be believable, but also house a spirituality that transcends the pictorial subject matter. In some cases the still life objects take on a anthropomorphic or narrative expression, providing an undercurrent to the contemplative paintings. Juxtaposed clouds contrast with the fruit and provide a moment of ambiguity, causing the viewer to question whether the storms are approaching or passing. The background clouds and landscapes become as important as the foreground objects in the compositional architecture of the painting.