Well it had to happen. After a couple months of constant snow my paintings followed suit. I am taking on a large winter landscape project but wanted to dive in and play with some small images first. The commission is a different color scheme but it’s good to get my groove on with these first.
We have been buried in snow for months with months to go. I enjoy the scenery but it can also be difficult… paying my respects to the winter.
New work happening in the studio. As you can see through the window I am living in snow country. These winter days are a great time to stay in and dedicate myself to painting. It is really what I want to be doing with most of my time anyway.
Short winter days often bring dramatic conclusions. As pretty as the sunset is looking to the East is often more dramatic. The snow covered mountains get blasted with the final shot of sunlight.
Scenes from just outside my studio (eagles filmed through my studio window). This is where I draw my inspiration, the endless well. North Idaho is snow country which can be tough but it is also incredibly gorgeous.
I had a friend in college named Andrew Hofmeister. He was a retired art professor at Washington State University. He was a huge artistic influence on me, I wish I would have told him that. At the time he owned a family vacation home on Flathead Lake in Montana. He let me stay up there periodically, in the basement of his cabin. Mr Hofmeister told me “be inspired but don’t let the view dictate your painting”. I think about that a lot, I hope he would appreciate my work now. I am pretty directly influenced by nature but it is the mood and movement of paint that are my key subjects. Now I have a studio and live roughly half way between WSU and his former cabin in Montana.
A quick little glimpse into my studio today. This painting is starting to take shape. Mood, mystery and atmosphere always elements I pursue in my work. Have a great weekend.
A new painting in the studio today. This one is lighting up my work space.
I really like these 24”x36” panels, so much so I am prepping four other boards this size at the moment!
This painting is now availability through Abend Gallery in Denver, Colorado.
One of twelve new paintings shipped to Abend Gallery in Denver, Colorado. This one sat in my studio for much of the year, nearly finished… now it is done and gone, just like the year.
This is one of the new paintings I am working on in the studio. I have decided to spend my days making large pieces. I am preparing some very large panels in a variety of sizes. Excited to see what will come…
brian sostrom 