Rocky Climb, like a lot of my paintings, is not based on a real place. It’s a fabricated daydream I developed, through introspection, trial and error, and months of pushing paint around.

Painting imaginary landscapes is worth the effort and time because it reveals more to me, about me, than if I were to paint from observation.

Rocky Climb's terrain looks very difficult to hike, like I might break a leg or something. And, the pink and yellow clouds and minimal tree cover give the feeling of exposure to the baking sun and thin mountain air.

This pretty much captures my journey as an artist. I still have a lot of hill left to climb before I believe in myself. And, it's hard to appreciate where I am at the moment when I'm preoccupied with reaching the top.