I am a landscape artist. My inspiration comes from a lifetime of adventure in the great outdoors. Each painting reflects a special place, a specific point in time, or an experience that left its mark on my life and soul. Some paintings are dreams or visions of places I can see in the future, places not yet part of reality, but exist in a world of anticipation.

The San Juan Wilderness and the Conejos River valley in Southern Colorado is a good example of a place worth painting. The cold clear rushing water of the river, the morning mist, the sunrise and it's reflections on the mountains bring out the different shades of green in the forest. It's a wilderness, a place of mystery, beauty, and forever memories. It leaves you with the question, what new experience lies around the bend in the river?

As a youth, I waded spring-fed creeks at dawn as the sun's first light filtered through the fog. I witnessed the Eastern Brook Trout in full spawning colors preparing to deliver the next generation of nature's most beautiful fish. I have seen the sky lined with thousands of Snow and Canadian geese as they winged their way south just ahead of Winter's first big snow. I have listened to the Eagle as its voice echoed through the dark emerald green forest, and watched bears chase pink salmon migrating Alaska's glacier-fed rivers.

The use of color, and shades of light and dark, help to bring my paintings to life. The use of different shapes and sizes help to produce distance and depth. These combined with the use of special brushes and learned techniques bring about the dreams and visions that make for a great landscape painting.

Sincerely,

Dean Ertel