STAT E M EN T/ BIO

Artist's Statement My approach to watercolors has been "one-sitting works". Usually I paint for an hour or two outdoors, add minimal touch ups back in the studio and call it complete. Most of my watercolors online were painted en Plein Air as the French Impressionists discovered that a quality is captured during such an intense push to make a picture in a short period of daylight, which is not always evident in studio painting. I try to catch the moment of the day, light and shadow and some detail, but concede other areas to abstraction. While traveling, I resist the temptation to photograph every notable place but allow some scenes to be captured only in a sketchpad or on watercolor paper. What I hope to convey is my fascination for Nature's harmony of micro and macro, and to allow the viewer enough abstracted areas to interpret this realisme in each of my pictures.

Bio In his early teens, he was painting and drawing from how-to books, then from his own photos and then from the outdoors. It was the combined interest in painting and sense of wonder for natural beauty, especially during each autumn that lead him to join the local art club and to begin exhibiting at age 15. He went on to earn a degree at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh while exploring different styles and media. Hired in 1979 as an airbrush illustrator and soon after worked from his own studio in the area of fine arts, illustration and design. Lou currently works as a painter, illustrator and graphic designer in Silver Spring, Maryland. "Making visual art and playing traditional folk music with friends and at gigs energizes my creative spirit and are high priorities".

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