Mark Boedges

While I paint many different kinds of subjects, the landscape is my first and greatest love. Like many artists, I strive to achieve a painterly realism in my work.  As students we are taught to focus on what is essential in our subject; but this can be a subjective judgment.  For me, what is essential about nature is its complexity.  Everywhere I look I see the grittiness, cragginess and fine-grained texture of the natural world.  It is this essential ruggedness and complexity and presence that I try to capture in paint; to convey what it is really like to experience the infinite depth of reality, and to do so with the same energy and vitality that we bring to our experience of this reality.

But all of this complexity and depth would go unseen if not for the light.   I am profoundly moved by the power of light, physically for sure as it manifests in my paintings, but more importantly emotionally and spiritually.  In my darkest moments, through great pain, I found the transformational power of light, of the idea of light, of being and moving and loving in the light.  I am not a religious person and spirituality is relatively new to me, but my commitment to capturing and sharing this light with others is the purpose underlying all that I do.