Maker : Rick Fleury

24" x 48" x1.5

oil on canvas

Location : Nauset Beach

The landscape in its purest form – untouched, and uninterrupted, by man.

I am drawn to the essence of a moment’s beauty: the rare light as it moves across a meadow, the shadows or reflections it leaves behind; the subtle variations of color as they change with the seasons and time of day; the movement of grasses, water and sand; the solitude of a wandering low tide.

Having spent many years living and working on Cape Cod, I am ever inspired by the coast – always looking for new and interesting ways to capture its beauty, spirit and tranquility, and push to find new ways in terms of palette and brushstroke, content and emotion.

My process has changed considerably over the years, once working in a photo-realistic sense in watercolor and acrylic, most always from photographs, intent on capturing each individual blade of grass and the exacting details of the still life or landscape.

Over time, and moving exclusively to the landscape, I’ve worked to gradually remove these details, leaving out the less important, and working to capture more of the spirit of the place, the feeling of the air, the sense of the surroundings, and the grandness of it all. In doing so, I’ve continued with a restrained and limited palette, a palette I feel represents the subtleties and muted tones so unique to the Outer Cape.

Oil