What is Open Impressionism?

Impressionists used small, thin brush strokes laid side by side to capture the light and movement of a transient scene. Following in their footsteps, pioneers of art have since developed many new styles of painting.

Open Impressionism catches the attention at once as being a new style of painting, while still having influences from the traditional. The colors are vibrant, pre-mixed, and un-muddied. The impasto brush strokes are left to exist as they are placed, without layering, which preserves every tiny ridge in the paint left by the brush. The dramatic swabs of paint seem chaotic when seen up close, but when viewed from a distance the painting pulls into focus, in the manner of the classic impressionist paintings. The purpose of Open Impressionism is to capture the true feeling of being outdoors; therefore, each painting is more of an emotional work than a photographic representation. The paintings capture fleeting experiences with a few swabs of colorful paint, attempting to re-capture the feeling of the wind pushing against your back and prickling the sweat in your hair, feet sinking into the damp earth beneath an oak tree, eyes squinting against the sun, feeling burrs in the socks, listening to the rustling aspen leaves and the occasional startled deer.