I may be getting older and slower but not any less enthusiastic about my work. I believe I am painting as well as I ever have, and when it’s time to keel over I will with a brush in my hand. My new Eaton Art studio in Midway is very enjoyable and has the best north light I’ve ever had. I view Wilson Peak and the old Mountain Spa while I paint and I believe there is a painting there with all the old houses that are still scattered throughout the area.
Moving back to Midway offers me some artistic heritage. The famous western artist William F. Whitaker was born in Midway, Utah. There is also little colony of artists who have gathered in this community in Wasatch County, including the noted Robert Duncan, Vernon Murdock, David and Sherry Omans, and Erla Young.
Just one of the many reasons I moved back to Midway is that I feel that some of the most profound subjects are found in everyday occurrences when living close to nature. I have found myself staying closer to home, doing more landscape drawings and painting the things I feel most strongly about. I keep my eyes open and paint the subjects I lovefamily members, friends, and scenes when they are in a fine state to be captured. If you want fresh new ideas, why not be in a position to experience fresh new happenings?
Im always aware that the sunlight and the subjects of my paintings come from God. I didnt invent them. My paintings are an expression of what I see and my appreciation of it; something I take from my own soul and try to put it on canvas. I believe that talent is more of maintaining an intense interest than anything else. I avoid pot-boiling or the repainting of the same old picture by a constant reintroduction into its surroundings. In other words, I go out into nature for firsthand consultations. In the morning I work on my have to pictures, then in the afternoon I leave the Eaton Art studio and return to nature in search of my want to work, usually landscape drawings and scrap sketches for future pictures. It is said that an artist whose paintings begin to falter is usually not the result of losing ones eye or ones hand, but rather it is the outcome of losing ones interest. After painting literally hundreds of canvases, it is easy to become formulaic or rote. Some artists say, Ive painted so many pictures I can paint them in my sleep! Yes, but it really shows. I like to make direct forays into nature; it reinvigorates my art and keeps my senses sharp and my interests keen.