Distant horizons and immense skies filled my youth in rural Colorado. After many years living in the city, my memory of those rural landscapes has begun to meld with the linear and geometric qualities of urbanscapes. While the vastness of open land remains central to my paintings, manmade structures interrupt, often in the form of haystacks.

            Haystacks represent a robust and cyclical relationship between people and the land—a canary in a mine of sorts—for hay cannot be grown without fertile ground and ample water, both of which provide a habitat for other living things. And yet, they are decidedly in contrast with their surrounds, a mark of human invention, especially when covered in tarps for protection from the elements.

            As details are ephemeral, my interest lies in capturing the mood of these environments, the lasting impact such a world makes on one’s memory. In order to enhance this atmospheric tension, I often amplify the stark light of the sun and the deep shadows cast by these manmade structures over the land.