My art reflects the extreme energy encountered in negotiating the outdoor landscape and the joy I find in exploring both outer and inner worlds. This can be found anywhere from hiking under a magnificent sugar pine tree to flying over a jump via a mountain bike. These paintings respond to life’s dance and fire within. Jump from a tall cliff into an icy alpine lake, trail run over a mountain pass or climb the northeast arête of Bugaboo spire. Graze your hands through the desert’s red rock floor. Do you feel the dance?

The natural world swims through my paintings like a fat bellied fish in a surreal colored mountain stream. At its heart is a profound connection to the known and the great-unknown. The natural universe—icy restless peaks, opaque water pools, the exceptional humanity and beauty of human endeavor and the supernatural universe— the spirit world casting its energy through rocks, ravines, chasms, and human behavior. The seemingly disparate images I paint—turtles, tongues, dogs, ducks, bearded wise men, etc. demonstrate the untamed spirit that flows through all things and that presents itself freely in dreams and imagination.

“Jude paints bold in-your-face images”, said a friend describing my work. I feel a painting should speak for itself. I may at times use words or phrases in a painting, but only as an aside to the visual impact of the image.

Every line, brush stroke, color field represents a myriad of ideas and thoughts brought together like a series of seismic eruptions forming an immense mountain. A geologist told me Mammoth Mountain did not exist 100,000 years ago. My latest painting did not exist two weeks ago.

 

Copyright 2009 Jude Bischoff