Some of my earliest memories as a child are of a beautiful lake in the Ozarks and the mountains of Colorado. Something in the outdoors and the beauty of our world called me to respond to it. I was that kid who could draw and paint well. Art period in our school week was my favorite.
Copeland Falls, copyright Dale Olsen
My first plein air experience was at Grand Teton National Park with pastels when I was 12. I didn’t know what plein air was, I just sat on a rock and drew. I began oil painting at 15 and never looked back. Landscapes are my first subject, cars my second, and flowers a recent addition. Plein air painting has been a revelation of color, observation and awareness of the quickly changing light. Painting from photographs, sometimes with a plein study, is my usual method of working.
Cana Island Morning, copyright Dale Olsen
All my subjects are from my own direct observation and photography. In the studio, I start with a strongly colored under-painting that is the complementary color of the final image, think of yellow/orange underneath a snow scene. I build up the paint in many layers, from thin and transparent to thick and opaque.
Crabapple Lake, copyright Dale Olsen
There is real joy in chasing down the images when hiking, seeking out the beautiful at the edges of the day. The first two and last two hours of daylight are when the warmth and depth of color are the greatest. Learning to see–to observe the subject or scene, to look deeply–are perhaps the most useful skills to develop after learning to mix and apply paint. Painting is a joy. I am very grateful when a purchaser of my work tells me “Your work brings me peace.” Painting brings peace to me.
Nature Artists' Guild 