Abstract

My thesis show includes paintings that depict scenes of the trails that my dog and I frequent in Utah. These paintings are a response to experiences I have in nature and explore my relationship with my dog and the surrounding flora and fauna along the local trails. The paintings include images of rocks, sticks, dirt, trails, dogs, clouds, and dried sunflowers in the wind. In addition to realistic depictions of nature, my paintings reflect on the psychological and emotional state of being in nature. The title of the show is Always Running at Sunset, which is meant to be taken both literally and figuratively because I usually run trails at sunset, but I also run to escape into nature when things that are meaningful to me--relationships or states of being--are coming to a close or a "sunset." My painting process is deliberately intuitive, allowing room for emotional content to be infused into the paintings. My affinity for landscape painting came from my own experience and from the example of many artists who are discussed in this paper.

Degree

MFA

College and Department

Fine Arts and Communications; Art

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/