When Landscape Painting Becomes a Meditation on Journey
"Crossing Without End" Speaks of Human Struggle
“Crossing Without End” oil on unstretched canvas.
As I painted “Crossing Without End,” the thick paint started to form ridges and valleys on the canvas, like the land itself. But my mind wandered to something else. All the people throughout history who crossed land like this not for fun, not for a weekend hike, but because they had to.
Why do people risk so much to travel across difficult terrain? What’s worse, the danger of leaving or the fear of staying where they were? Those thoughts stuck with me as I worked the paint with a palette knife, layering gold, white, and deep blue.
Landscape with a Deeper Meaning
“Crossing Without End” oil on unstretched canvas. with it’s rough edges.
I hike and paint up and down the West Coast often. It’s beautiful, but sometimes it feels like these places are holding stories. These stories are about people who went through something hard and kept going anyway.
While I painted, I thought about what it would take to cross this kind of land on foot. The physical exhaustion. The emotional toll. This painting became a kind of quiet reflection on strength and on how both people and nature find ways to keep moving.
“Crossing Without End” oil on unstretched canvas. shown in a frame.