In my experience, painting is about spiritual and emotional vision; and I believe it is through the creation and viewing of art that people share their personal visions. Paintings, and other visual art forms, should be interesting and fun, and yet unconsciously provoke us, just a little, to think about our connections to the planet and to each other. The visual arts help us build bridges to our dreams -- our symbols and archetypes. Good art can entertain and enlighten and even inspire, but it must always be emotional. I hope my paintings give you a sense of joy and lightness of spirit, but most of all a feeling of "connectedness" to nature, because these are the feelings I experience while painting and want to express in my work. I look for energy and drama, a kind of "persona" in natural things, even the whimsical, and try to capture it with paint, like an exotic flower that obviously wants to show off, or a pair of frogs that put on their fancy coats and park themselves on toadstools, perhaps waiting on the ladies. Is there a secret place where frogs and butterflies are purple? Do fish tell stories? Do pelicans smile? I hope you enjoy my images, and please visit often. My work can currently be seen and purchased at the "Wy'east Book Shoppe and Art Gallery", "The Wildwood Cafe", "The Still Creek Inn", and the specialty gift boutique "Made On Mt Hood", all located in the Mt Hood corridor, in the forested hills of the Oregon Cascades. Signed and numbered Limited Edition prints are available. Samples of my paintings can be seen in the "gallery" pages using the links at left and bottom of each page. Thanks for sharing your time at my site! If you wish to consider a purchase, or you just want to talk about art, please contact me using the links below.

I often wonder: What if each of us spent an hour each day, or even just 20 minutes, engaged in painting, sketching, writing a story, or just journaling our thoughts, do you think the planet might be more peaceful? It's worth considering, isn't it? So, my friend, grab some paper and charcoal and smooth out a few wrinkles in the universe! At some level in every painter's work, there is a bit of the mysterious. Check out these Artist Quotes: "A painting is never finished -- it just stops in interesting places." (Paul Gardner) Juan Gris, the Spanish painter who, with Picasso, led the cubist movement said, "as a painter you are lost the instant you know what the result will be." And this one is heavy: "The principle of true art is not to convey, but to evoke...." (Jerzy Kosinski) And my favorite quote is from expressionist William Baziotes, who said, "Each painting has its own way of evolving... when the painting is finished, the subject reveals itself." (This site shows best with a full-wide browser. Please turn off any sidebars, e.g., Search or Favorites, for best results. All images and text are copyright protected, all rights reserved (c)1998-2008 Jim Highland.)