“I'm excited to share a new painting that went through a long gestation. I shivered my way through a field study a year ago on an overcast afternoon with a high temperature that barely reached above zero. A month or so later I started a studio pastel. After a first pass I decided it would be more interesting as a sunset, so I layered over darker blues in the snow and introduced warm color in the sky. Though I liked the idea of the painting, I just wasn't able to pull it off. Disappointed, I set it aside, thinking it was not salvageable. Then, after nearly a year, I took another look and imagined a solution. I decided to have another go at it.
I took a dry brush and removed the top layers of pastel from all but the larger trees. Then I gave it a good coating of fixative before performing surgery. Most of the work involved removal and simplification. I opened out the middle ground, simplified the sky, darkened the background hills, and reworked the water and icy bank. After two long days of work and uncertainty, I came out the other side relieved and happy. This is what I meant to say!”
It's fairly common for art enthusiasts to assume that landscape painters stick to the script. While I have learned to paint accurately, to match color for color and tone for tone, at the end of the day I'm after the truth of experience. How does that landscape make me feel? How do I convey my experience of place in a way that transcends mere fidelity to the subject? That's where the adventure begins...
My art is borne out of my struggle to absorb, comprehend, and understand the natural world. I’m overwhelmed, and yet I can’t tear myself away. And so, I paint, so as to stand there for just a little longer. And then I return to the studio and paint something bigger, in order to digest what I’ve experienced while painting in the field. And then I take that frightening step: I invite the viewer to add his or her own story to it. At the sight of a beautiful sunset, we instinctively turn to the person next to us, be it friend or stranger, to see if they are looking too. And if they are, we feel a kinship with them. No two people experience a sunset in the same way, and yet we can experience it together. Though painting is largely a solitary endeavor, it is never a lonely one, because I am invited to share in the ineffable mystery of beauty. And that is where the art is. Briefly, I am an artist, writer, actor, husband, and father of three wonderful boys. It all gets mixed up until the distinctions are blurred, as they should be. The heart of my work is in the outdoors, absorbing the pattern of light on the landscape. Actors speak of "being in the moment" immersing themselves so totally in story that everything else falls away. The open air is my stage, and in the best moments, I am lost in it. I have no desire to impress you with these paintings. Rather, I strive to share my experience with honesty and without fear.
Pastel Society of America, Signature Member
American Impressionist Society, Signature Member
Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, Signature Member
2022 Feature Article in Art of the West
2022 Plein Air Magazine
2019 Feature article in Southwest Art
2019 Wrote articles on Skip Whitcomb and Ken Knight for The Pastel Journal and The Artist Magazine
2018 Wrote an article about Susan Lyon for The Pastel Journal
2017 Aaron will have two paintings included in Pure Color 2, a survey of contemporary pastel work
2016 Wrote A Song Without Words for The Pastel Journal
2016 Plein Air Magazine, two digital articles
2015 Big Sky Journal, Feature Article
2015 Wrote the Creative Life column for The Pastel Journal, six issues
2014 Plein Air Magazine, feature article.
2013 Pastel Journal, cover image and feature article.
2013 Plein Air Magazine, January feature article on plein air pastels
2012 Two articles, one on Sheila Reiman. The second, “The Plein Air Paradox” detailed
2023 Oil Painters of America Western Regional Show
2023 American Impressionist Society National Show
2023 American Impressionist Society Small Works Showcase
2022 Oil Painters of America Western Regional Show
2022 American Impressionist Society Small Works Showcase
2022 American Impressionist Society National Show
2020 American Impressionist Society National Show
2019 American Impressionist Society Small Works Showcase
2019 Maui Plein Air Invitational, Borrego Plein Air Painting Invitational, Yellowstone Plein Air Painting Invitational, Laguna Plein Air Painting Invitational
2018 American Impressionist Society Small Works Showcase
2018 18th Annual American Impressionist Society National Juried Exhibition
2018 Maui Plein Air Invitational, Borrego Plein Air Painting Invitational, Yellowstone Plein Air Painting Invitational
2017 26th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils
2017 Landscape Show, Howard/Mandville Gallery
2016 17th Annual American Impressionist Society National Juried Exhibition
2016 25th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils
2016 28th Annual Juried Exhibition, International Association of Pastel Societies
2015 Instructor, exhibitor for the IAPS Convention
2015 Presenter for the Plein Air Convention in Monterey, CA
2015 Vistas of the West Legacy Gallery, Bozeman
2015, 2014 Pastel Society of America’s Annual Show
2015, 2014 West Coast Pastel Society
2014 Presenter for the Plein Air Convention in Monterey, CA
2014 Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters National Show
2104 Art in the Open, Ireland
2013 America’s Parks through the Beauty of Art
2023 Almenara Prize Finalist
2023 Plein Air Salon, Best Pastel
2022 Plein Air Magazine Award, Southwest Art "Best QuickDraw Award" Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational
2022 Award of Merit, American Impressionist Society
2022 Best Patel, 2022 Plein Air Salon
2019 Second Place, Laguna Beach Plein Air Painter's Invitational
2019 Second Place, Borrego Plein Air Painters Invitational
2018 Award of Merit, Oil Painters of America
2016 Best Pastel, Plein Air Magazine’s Plein Air Salon
2015 First place, Pastel Society of the West Coast Membership Show
2015 First place, 11th Annual Mile High International Exhibition
2013 Award of Excellence, American Impressionist Society
2013 Plein Air Magazine Juror’s Choice Award for America’s Parks through the Beauty of Art
2013 First Place for the Pastel Journal’s Pastel 100
