The idea of painting storms started with a tornado. Initially sparked by an uptick in tornado sightings and amazing footage from storm chasers, I felt compelled to do a deep dive. Climate change has long been a theme of interest in my work, notably through my compositions of crumbling icebergs and ice floes. With the increase and severity of storms worldwide and climate change as its catalyst, my repertoire expanded. Painting storms gave me another approach to climate change.
Although storms can be frightening and traumatic, there is also a beauty in the dramatic contrasts of light and dark, warm and cool. My affinity towards bright landscapes meeting foreboding skies are directly linked to childhood memories of our family farm, where the last bit of light illuminated a golden field, set before the oncoming storm.
