From the Journal

A Lifetime of Painting on Location

“I could not claim to have painted great watercolors on location. That would be a matter of opinion. But I am sure that I have painted many of my best ones that way because the adventure of that brief hour or two, entranced by a scene or a dramatic gesture of nature, an effect or mood or form is what I look for. I have, because of my drafting and painting skills combined with emotional response, been able to transcend a mere cerebral attitude to art. Each to his own. I treasure my own experience and I recommend the dedicated practice of being there, feeling and living and being a part of the subject matter out of which form and design is abstracted. If you want to paint, learn to paint. Study. Learn color structure, perspective and know your medium. Be skilled in draftsmanship. Learn to paint as you learned to read and write. It is your graphic language. Then paint to learn. This is the reason to paint. Explore your world through observation, imagination, invention and experience. Your paintings are not a product or manufactured goods. They are a record of your journey, your life adventure. As such they do have value. A painter has the skill and the insight that can enrich other lives and lead them to discoveries of their own. The painter embodies in every picture that he paints, the reason for all the arts – painting, sculpture, literature, music and architecture – to feed peoples souls. In every day thought the arts take second place to science, technology, law, religion and politics but take the arts away and nothing would remain but the dross of life. As an individual I paint with a sense of responsibility to the whole meaning of art.”

-Milford Zornes