Featured Artist Jonathan Keeton

Painter Jonathan Keeton shares an incredible portfolio of landscapes and nocturnal scenes that capture moments in time.

“Cataract Creek 02″ Watercolor on Paper, 57″ x 37”

My work is a meditation on what I am seeing. On a strong impulse to honor the natural world, I need to make sure that everything is just so. I am drawn to landscapes and nocturnes, as I feel that at night our influence wanes and the natural beauty and mystery of things takes over again.

“Late Afternoon – Diablo Canyon” Oil on Canvas, 72″ x 48″

We are more divorced from the natural world than at any time in our species’ history, and if the feeling that I have of awe comes through at all in my work, then I’m pretty happy.

“Highway 100, Vermont” Watercolor on Paper, 30″ x 22″

I spent much of my adolescence taking and developing photographs, and picked it up again later when I realized that I wasn’t able to work en plein air for weeks at a time without the light changing. I am trying to paint a moment, and everything in the scene changes when the light changes. My paintings take a long time to create, and I want to capture a moment—as opposed to an average of what the scene looks like over several hours.

“Fall Aspens” Acrylic on Board, 24″ x 18″

I take photographs while out on extended rambles, and decide later which images should remain as photographs and which might perhaps work as paintings.

“Felton Empire Road” Watercolor on Paper, 41″ x 29″

I am attracted to landscapes that give me a certain feeling, and although I might not be able to describe or predict what I might find, there is a strong recognition when I see it in front of me.

“The Boarding House, Madrid” Watercolor on Paper, 54″ x 34″

There is almost a science fiction sense of newness in certain landscapes and night scenes for me, as if they are being seen with fresh eyes, or for the first time.

“Laguna Pacific Avenue” Acrylic on Panel, 18″ x 12″

In my paintings, what I am most intrigued by is the sense of being in the landscape, as opposed to viewing it from a distance.

“HIghway One at Waddell Creek” Acrylic on Panel, 77″ x 36″

I have always liked the delicacy and perhaps the demanding nature of watercolor, although I’ve recently begin working in oils and acrylic as well and appreciate the forgiving nature of those media. I have come to have fewer prejudices against particular mediums, and ultimately see painting images as the goal.

“Rio en Medio” Watercolor on Paper, 30″ x 22″

After working as a school teacher and an actor (and a waiter and picture framer), I stumbled into the beginning of computer graphics in California and ended up pursuing a career in visual effects for thirty years. It was nice to actually be paid to do something like art, and I felt a strong need to prove that I could succeed in the “real world.”

“Morning, Steep Ravine” Acrylic on Board, 18″ x 12″

I’m lucky to be able to return, many years later, to my first love, although I am keenly aware of where my art might be had I been working as a full-time artist all those years, and am mindfully anxious to make up for lost time now.

Artist Jonathan Keeton invites you to follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Enjoy more of his artwork by visiting his website.

Link to Carolyn’s original article here.