Beneath an expansive azure dome punctuated by voluminous white clouds, Lawrence W. Lee's landscape painting captures the sublime essence of the American Southwest with masterful precision. The canvas stretches across a panoramic vista where earthy ochre and sienna foreground gives way to luminous golden meadows that seem to shimmer in the desert light.
A dramatic geological formation rises from the middle distance, its purple-tinged silhouette suggesting the ancient mesas and buttes that have captivated Lee throughout his decades-long career painting the mystical Southwest. The artist's deep connection to Arizona's high desert country, cultivated during his formative years at Northern Arizona University and countless journeys across the Four Corners region, infuses every brushstroke with authentic reverence for this sacred landscape.
Lee's sophisticated palette transitions seamlessly from the warm russet tones of the immediate foreground through bands of sage green to the ethereal lavender mountains that dissolve into the crystalline atmosphere. The clouds themselves become sculptural elements, their billowing forms echoing the geological drama below while creating a sense of infinite space that speaks to the artist's understanding of the desert's capacity to humble and inspire.
This painting exemplifies Lee's evolution beyond his renowned shamanistic imagery into landscapes that capture what he calls the "peculiar potentiality" of place—that indefinable spiritual essence that transforms mere geography into sacred space.
- Subject Matter: Landscape
- Current Location: Sorrel Sky Gallery - Santa Fe - 125 W. Palace Ave. Santa Fe, NM 87501 (google map)