The decision to be fully engaged in the pursuit of excellence defines Gavin Brooks as an artist on a journey. Her fascination with the grand American landscapes of Edgar Payne, John Carlson and John Singer Sargent compelled her to leave careers in illustration, advertising and publishing to paint full-time. An extensive fine art education at the Schuker School of Fine Art in Baltimore was been followed by workshops and fellowship with well-known landscape painter Scott Christensen.

Gavin travels throughout America to paint scenes of grand spaces. Forests, rivers and mountains. Her landscape subjects speak of pristine wilderness, coast and farmland unchanged by modern times. Gavin paints field studies on site and uses the information to paint large studio paintings. Her paintings have recently won awards and recognition from the contemporary realism art community. Her paintings are in collections throughout the US and in Europe.

Artist's Statement:

“In wilderness is preservation of the world”
Henry David Thoreau

These paintings are the result of my time in the company of nature. Accumulating an outdoor experience over the years has been important in painting landscapes. I find myself on a journey of surprising complexity and perseverance where working on location is an ongoing exercise in broadening artistic knowledge. Painting trees, clouds and rivers in deliberate study often means that many paintings won’t ever make it to a frame. These sketches and notes from the field become part an ongoing experience where each painting contributes in some way to the next.

Painting in the tradition of the American post-impressionists is not about strict adherence to all the details. There is an engaging middle ground where fundamentals in realism yields to expressive abstraction of the elements. A discipline where creativity, intellect, experience and passion for nature merge into artistic discovery. Memory plays a huge part in composing paintings that speak to this and I am encouraged by the strong role this plays in my work. Under its influence I reflect on cool arrangements deep in the shade of trees and soft shapes of rocks under moving water; all things affected by particles of air, light, shadow and layers of memory.

There is a constant balance in working with what I am seeing in the moment and what I know to be true in absence of the evidence. Seeking truth in the sublime and painting in this realm is not about what I see in nature but more about how it feels when I am standing in it.

Achievements

• Mid Atlantic PAPA – Gamblin Golden Award of Merit 2004
• East/Southeast Regional Exhibit - Oil Painters of America, Richmond VA 2002
• National Exhibit - Oil Painter of America – Taos, NM 2003
• Mid-Atlantic PAPA – Invitational Paint Annapolis, ML 2004
• One Woman Show – Hole In The Wall Gallery, Ennis, MT- August 2004
• Two Person Show – McBride Gallery, Annapolis, MD – August 2004
• Group Show - Addison Art, Orleans, MA  October 2004
• Signature Membership to the National Academy of Professional Plein Air
  Painters