Artist Statement
Steve was born in Lewiston, Maine in 1957 and raised in Livermore Falls, Maine. He moved to California in 1984 and received basic Art training at the San Francisco School of Art. He also has trained extensively with the nationally known plein-air painter Armand Cabrera. His other major influences are Maynard Dixon and Edward Hopper. Steven now resides in Kelseyville California overlooking beautiful Clearlake. "Aesthetically, I believe that art should impact the viewer and stir an inner feeling or memory. If I have evoked that emotion then my painting is successful".
"When I first became interested in plein-air painters, I admired artists from the "Society of Six" as in Selden Gile, William Clapp, Louis Siegrist to mention a few. They were early California Impressionists and I became attracted to their outlook and lifestyle. They were painters that went out together and painted alla prima and seemed interested in truly capturing the emotional elements of a scene. I think I modeled myself after these people. Many plein-air artists these days will bring a piece back to the studio to finish up, but I feel the emotional bond has been lost once you leave the scene so I paint from start to finish in one sitting in the true pure plein-air tradition. I will often paint in the studio by photo but even then I will paint from start to finish in the plein-air tradition. For me, I feel that if I do not have an emotional reaction to a scene then how can I expect a viewer to have an emotional reaction to what I have painted."