ADK Swimming Hole and Forest Light

John McNally

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

As a traveling plein air landscape painter, I bring my practice of observation and response to scenic locales. The works depicted here are from a recent series of oil and pastel sketches rendered on black surfaces, many created in the Adirondack and Catskill regions. I found the process of reserving the darks and applying the lights to be an apt metaphor for any number of current environmental crises. My hope is that the images elevate and encourage awareness of the fragile ecosystems we stand to lose.

John McNally is an itinerant artist, writer, and musician based in New Jersey. For the past decade, he has spent a good deal of his summers participating in plein air painting competitions throughout New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, where he has won various awards and sells his work. He earned a BFA from Penn State University and a MFA from Louisiana State University. He considers the artist's journey to be a lifelong task with an ever-expanding field of goals. More of his work can be seen at johnmcnallyart.com.