Clay Wagstaff

I like the challenge of solving problems and using skills I have acquired over a lifetime to create paintings that I hope are beautiful and spiritually enriching. I choose to paint landscapes because I love spending time out of doors, and traveling.

For me, the variety and proportional perfection of the natural world is inspiring. It is satisfying to me to discover the geometry and patterns embedded in the natural world just behind the veneer of appearing chaotically organic. The elements of nature, such as a bit of filtered light on the trunk of a tree, or the shadow of a foothill, all work together to make a beautiful whole. I think of my paintings as 3D objects and I take pains to carefully craft the painting support, etc. just as I carefully craft the painting itself.

I resonate with what Goethe said regarding traveling (seeing new landscapes) acting upon the brain in the same way that painting and drawing act upon the brain. I see the world differently because I paint, and I paint because I see things in the landscape around me— and as I travel—that need to be painted.

Education

MFA University Outstanding Graduat