Why Landscape Collage?

I've moved towards a collage style in my work since making "Darby's Harbour Before the Storm," pictured above. I filled in some of the composition's shapes with photographed textures to give the scene more depth and a realistic presence.

My earlier work relied on color and shape alone. It was clean, minimalistic and colorful, but I felt that it lacked the depth I enjoyed seeing in contemporary landscape painting. I wanted people to feel the texture of the grass and the rocks and to see ripples in the water.

Since "Darby's Harbour Before the Storm," I've used digital photographs to add some life to these scenes. Now they look more like collages than illustrations - more tactile than cartoony. I hope that this change in style gives viewers a more intimate connection to the landscapes. I hope it helps depict these remote, Northern environments more vividly.