For the past several years I have painted "en plein aire" in the Corvallis environs and on the Oregon Coast. This experience has become a part of my expression as a painter. The resulting paintings are very different from those conceived and developed in the studio. There is a freedom inherent in the process of painting from nature. It is an intense experience which forces one to concentrate and work diligently before the day is done and the moment has passed. There is an emotion which can be captured from the landscape itself - when one can feel the wind and the warmth of the sun. It is an immediate experience which translates the mood of the location and the painter's involvement to the painting.

Many times I resolve the difficult issues confronting me in a painting with a mixed media approach. This is satisfying in that I am able to use the transparency of watercolor together with the opaque nature of acrylics. One of the solutions that I favor is to paint in oil on paper. In this way, I am able to get a result which is immediate, gestural, and with more intense color. Drawing with paint and using washes on the paper gives a new dimension to the work. Each media has its strengths and limitations for outdoor painting. I enjoy experimenting and searching for my individual expression.

Signe Heggem Davis

February 15, 2006