About
the Artist
Louis Copt
I have been working as a full-time
artist since 1985. I spent the summer studying at
the Art Students League in New York City and upon
returning to Kansas, I started painting watercolor
landscapes. My method of working grew out of my love
for and training in photography. I began to photograph
the landscape with the specific purpose to use the
images, not as finished works, but for reference material
for paintings.
Working in acrylic has its own special
problems. First, is the fact that it dries very quickly,
making it difficult to blend. Secondly, acrylic changes
color when it dries. This makes color matching very
difficult. It was no problem however, to do this if
I worked small. Again, my desire to work larger then
led me to oils. After several years of struggle and
experimentation, I am finally able to make oil do
what I want. Oil is now my main medium.
In my new work, I am relying on impressions
and recollections of past encounters with nature.
Years of direct observation and refinement of my technical
skills now allow me to go beyond literal interpretations
of the landscape. My goal is to create ambiguity or
mystery, to reveal what is felt but not seen, to create
something absolutely unique, to explore form out of
curiousity and to reveal my private vision. My paintings
still come across as "landscape" but also
convey the idea that another reality lies beyond the
world of appearances.
