Alaska Muse – Greg Bombeck Artist Reception

About the paintings
Landscape painting can be a cathartic endeavor, especially painting on location, en plein air. Akin to one being absorbed in a good read, painting requires the artist become lost in the moment; all the while, detail, nuance and the shifting light on the land conspire to defeat his or her effort. All of the paintings exhibited were originally done en plein air, and later finessed or used as reference for larger pieces in the studio.

Several of the landscapes exhibited include paintings of the same scene in three mediums, oil, acrylic and watercolor. These paintings are an exploration of the limitations of each medium, and a search for expressing emotional content, which can be as simple as, “I like this one, and not that one.” Of course, an artist hopes to connect with the viewer on a deeper emotional level, where a painting becomes believable.

Several of my paintings include a “rückenfigur”, an unrecognizable figure distant in the environment that serves to place the viewer within the scene and as a means of understanding the grandiose scale of the environment.