The Day Ahead 2021, oil, 30 x 30 in. Collection the artist Studio from a plein air study
students to take what you need and leave the rest, otherwise you are going to end up painting just like other people.” Walker is aware of his continued growth as an artist. “I’ve spent the last couple of weeks thinking about what I am going to do next,” he says. “I always have something else going off to the side of my regular work, just for myself. I’ve been looking at reference photographs I took in Ireland, Scotland, and Italy. I pulled up old paintings from 2012 and cringed, but
I’m also thinking I could do a lot better now. I passed on so many reference photos because I didn’t think I could tackle them. Now I think I can. My wife and I will retire in Ireland, if we can. As soon as I told her I was going to paint some scenes from our European trips, she started looking up rental properties over there,” Walker says with a chuckle. Until then, the artist will continue with his plein air endeavors, for more reasons than one. “I started the plein air work to get out of
my comfort zone and to meet people,” he says. “Otherwise, I am in my studio eight hours a day. People are like, ‘I’ve never heard of you.’ If I can’t travel the world, I can certainly drive around and paint with people — socially distanced, for now.” BOB BAHR has written about visual art for various books and publications for 18 years. He lives and works in the Kansas City area.
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