Artist Statement
“Prairie grass and clouds are what we have, instead of postcard scenery. The land, like us, is hard to read, rewarding only patient eyes.” ---From Mark Vinz, “Heartland”
This collection of paintings is about the quiet “empty” spaces of North Dakota --- the land and sky --- and indirectly, its people. There are no humans in these images, but we see them in the working of the land, the occasional building, the rowed trees, a fenceline. They, too, have been slow, patient shapers of the landscape, like the glaciers, the wind, the rain, and the frost cycles.
I was born in Minot, ND, and grew up on a farm near Glenburn, in the rich flat farmlands of the Souris River loop. Both sets of my grandparents homesteaded in North Dakota; my parents, my siblings, my husband, and my child also were born here. I came into being out of the Dakota wind, soil, and snow. Those of us who are of this place understand it in a way visitors or transplanted residents can’t. For a few years I have been toying with the idea of painting a scene from each of North Dakota’s 53 counties, as a way of expressing my “sense of place.” It’s a bigger project than I expected, and I have only just begun. In preparing this body of work, I began a wandering of the back roads of the state, shooting reference photos and gradually expanding my “county list.” I can’t even say at this point what my countyscore is --- I keep getting lost.
In pursuit of images, I have come home with my car looking like it was in a monster truck mud rally; I have executed bootlegger U-turns on countless prairie roads that faded into nothingness; and I have had a close encounter with a badger. I have also confirmed my suspicion that this state is astonishingly beautiful.
My goal is to touch it all through my paintbrush.
This collection of paintings is about the quiet “empty” spaces of North Dakota --- the land and sky --- and indirectly, its people. There are no humans in these images, but we see them in the working of the land, the occasional building, the rowed trees, a fenceline. They, too, have been slow, patient shapers of the landscape, like the glaciers, the wind, the rain, and the frost cycles.
I was born in Minot, ND, and grew up on a farm near Glenburn, in the rich flat farmlands of the Souris River loop. Both sets of my grandparents homesteaded in North Dakota; my parents, my siblings, my husband, and my child also were born here. I came into being out of the Dakota wind, soil, and snow. Those of us who are of this place understand it in a way visitors or transplanted residents can’t. For a few years I have been toying with the idea of painting a scene from each of North Dakota’s 53 counties, as a way of expressing my “sense of place.” It’s a bigger project than I expected, and I have only just begun. In preparing this body of work, I began a wandering of the back roads of the state, shooting reference photos and gradually expanding my “county list.” I can’t even say at this point what my countyscore is --- I keep getting lost.
In pursuit of images, I have come home with my car looking like it was in a monster truck mud rally; I have executed bootlegger U-turns on countless prairie roads that faded into nothingness; and I have had a close encounter with a badger. I have also confirmed my suspicion that this state is astonishingly beautiful.
My goal is to touch it all through my paintbrush.
Touring Schedule
James Memorial Art Center
August 1 - 30, 2020
University of Mary Galleries
November 2 - 30, 2020
Cando Art Center
January 1 - 29, 2021
Northwest Arts Center
February 9 - March 9, 2021
The Art Center
March 11 - April 17, 2021
August 1 - 30, 2020
University of Mary Galleries
November 2 - 30, 2020
Cando Art Center
January 1 - 29, 2021
Northwest Arts Center
February 9 - March 9, 2021
The Art Center
March 11 - April 17, 2021
