“If you wisely invest in beauty it will be with you all the days of your life.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
A brief stop in Paris before a barge trip in 2013 led to an early morning stroll along the Seine.
I passed the Musee d’Orsay and saw a bulletin promoting their exhibit of Impressionists works. Seeing the works of Alfred Sisley, Claude Monet and Edgar Degas in person had a profound effect on me. I realized the power art has over our temporal cognizance. The ability of the masters to capture the emotion of a single instance in life, to evoke a recollection, excite curiosity, and above all, pull the viewer out of a logical and common world and place them in a setting that is more alive would become my aspiration. I made a decision that day to pursue art in retirement.
Coulee Crossing
I have always had a great love of the outdoors and our natural world.
My observations were honed at an early age while in the field hunting or fishing, both pursuits that I am passionate about today. My hunting and fishing adventures enrich my life and inspire most of my work. It is my intention to carry over these experiences using a personal visual language of fresh and direct brushstrokes to capture natural scenes in oil.
I remember painting birds at a young age on my grandmothers land off the coast of Maine. This led to an industrial design education where I developed skills in storyboarding, mechanical perspective, creating imagery out of ideas (ideation), and ultimately, a long career in event marketing.
After taking several oil painting classes at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2015 and 2016, I realized quickly how difficult the medium was. My industrial design education was invaluable particularly in refining my ability to draw 3-point perspectives and realistic renderings from gouache. This training also taught me that continual practice was essential in perfecting my craft in creating realistic and compelling renderings.
Combahee Plantation
I believe that creative growth need not atrophy when a person reaches the traditional age of retirement.
Since I’ve starting painting full time, I realize that my technique and style are constantly evolving. I understand that accurate drawing is vitally important both in terms of perspective, scale and light. When composing a painting the aim is to incorporate a compelling setting with good visual balance, lighting, and depth. I wish the viewer to venture vicariously with me, sharing adventures or scenes rooted in real-life encounters and heighten our sense of being there, capturing the emotion of a single instance in a life.
Thank you reading and for exploring this site and my paintings.
Ben Moore
“… fluid brushstrokes that imbue his canvases with a compelling blend of light, atmosphere and spatial effects that bring his passion for the outdoor life into vivid focus for the viewer.”
“From the Bright Sunny South”, Sporting Classics on Joseph Sulkowski
