When I was about five or six years old, I saw a black and white photograph of this painting by Albert Bierstadt.  I was mesmerized by the composition and the use of light, even in a black and white photograph.  I had to know who this artist was, if he was still painting or when he lived, where this place was located - just anything and everything I could learn about this image!  In the truest sense of the phrase:  I couldn't take my eyes off this scene!

It was then that I knew that I would paint landscapes, one day.  The feeling of awe and amazement with life and nature which I experience when viewing this painting is beyond description.  I hope you can see and feel what not only I, but so many others over the past century, have also experienced.

The romanticized grandeur of this scene, the majesty of the the mountains, mist, lake, waterfall and wildlife paint a scene which is so perfect that it could only exist in the eye of an artist -  Yet the human spirit longs to find this place and just be at peace there!  It was this scene and mood which I long to be able to capture on canvas.  I have a long way yet to go, but the joy in being able to paint a scene on a blank canvas and have it come to life is a feeling only the artist can experience.