Paintings > Natural Beauty: The Los Angeles Paintings

Bel Air Vista
Oil on canvas
30 x 48 inches
2011
Grey Building, Blue Sky
Oil on canvas
30 x 40 inches
2010
mulholland drive
Oil on canvas
19 x 21 inches
2010
California art
Oil on wood panel
40 x 30 inches
2012
Alley on Melrose Place
Oil on wood panel
30 x 24 inches
2011
La Cienega Design Quarter
Oil on canvas
22 x 21 inches
2010
Runyon Canyon Sentinel
Oil on canvas
22 x 22 inches
2009
West Hollywood
Oil on canvas
30 x 24 inches
2009
Reflections of West Hollywood
Oil on wood panel
24 x 36 inches
2011
Sunset from Mulholland Drive
Oil on canvas
19 x 14 inches
2009
Sunset and Crescent Heights
Oil on wood panel
24 x 24 inches
2011
Santa Monica Boulevard
Oil on canvas
20 x 12 inches
2011
The Valley
Oil on canvas
22 x 28 inches
2011
Sunset
Oil on canvas
24 x 36 inches
2011

In my work I see memories of places I have been. My paintings are a direct response to the world around me.

The "Natural Beauty" series is based on my experiences and observations since I moved to Los Angeles in 2009. When I first moved to L.A., I was struck by the apparent disconnection between the man-made cityscape and the native natural environment, a subtropical desert. So much of the "natural" landscape has been changed that little of it remains in the city.

I found myself questioning what is natural. If an environment has been changed for so long, does the new environment become "natural"? And also—what is "beauty"?

I am reflecting on these questions through the imagery of my paintings. Soft skies are contrasted with geometric flat planes of color. Telephone poles compete with palm trees in the skylines. Crimson sunsets are reflected in the city lights below. The organic shapes of the hills and mountains provide a backdrop for our inorganic, geometric architecture. Silhouettes of trees and vegetation vie for attention with construction cranes, lifeguard stations, and the urban environment.

These stark contrasts are reflected in my artistic techniques. Skies and landscapes are built up with thin layers of color through glazing, a technique as old as oil paint itself, creating an optically blended color that would be impossible to mix on the palette. This contrasts with elements of architecture and planes of color, which are composed of a solid, mixed color with no variation. Throughout my work, the rich colors of the unique light in Los Angeles remains a priority, and much time is spent mixing paint.

The "natural beauty" in Los Angeles is hard, at times, to define, but it exists nonetheless. Painting the contrast between the natural and the unnatural elements of Los Angeles helps me to understand how both are essential to the composition of its beauty.

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