I believe the land is alive, just as I am or as any other creature is. If you need convincing, go there, go to a place where the hand of man has not altered the land too much. Somewhere still a bit wild and quiet, like a National Park in the American West or the Flint Hills of Kansas.

When I go to such a place I tune into the Earth for peaceful contemplation. I listen to the wind sing in my ears. I feel the pulsating life in the ground below me. I smell the soil and marvel at all the life which springs from it. I often feel like I’m seeing a fleeting glimpse of a timeless process. Just a moment of eternity at work. Life gives life.

As a landscape painter/photographer, I start with a camera which I use as a sketching tool, to compose, to isolate, to focus, to simplify and later to paint from. I rely on the camera for the facts and my instincts for everything else. In the moment, on the land, I just want to align myself to what the land is saying to me. I listen and look for paintings. They soon begin to make themselves known in some way. With the rustle of the wind or the shriek of a hawk overhead, the living land gets my attention. When I’m in harmony with the Earth I connect at a deep level, I start to see and feel paintings all around me, as if the Earth wants to be seen and felt in a special, singular way. It’s only then when I feel truly alive. The land becomes my muse, my inspiration. Nature whispers, “This is the one. Photograph here, paint this.” I listen and I do. Simple.

See more at: www.jimworster.com