David M.
Cornell 
My
interest in landscape painting began while
growing up in the Sierra Nevada mountains of
Northern California, where I studied oil
painting for six years under Marion Letton, a
California landscape artist. I followed the
study of art during my high school and
college years, and continued to paint in oils
and watercolors while serving with the U.S.
Air Force. In that capacity, I had the
opportunity to sketch and paint in many
foreign countries while observing the
techniques used by their local artists. Since
1987, I have participated in plein air
painting workshops in Colorado, Missouri and
Illinois. My current inventory of landscape
oils were painted from scenes in Arizona,
California, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri and
New Mexico. Today I have a body of work
approximating 90 original landscape
paintings. I am a founding member of the
Missouri Plein Air Painters’
Association, and belong to the Gateway East
Artists’ Guild, the Northern Missouri
Arts Council, and the Highland Arts Council.
I have recently participated in a number of
local exhibits and art events including:
Artists Along The Katy Trail, Augusta
Missouri Art Show, Highland Illinois Silver
Lake art Show, the Gateway East Artists’
Guild Winter Art Show, Studio 111 Miniatures
Exhibit (O’Fallon, Illinois), Componere
Gallery Art Show (St. Louis Misssouri),
Clarksville and Marceline Missouri
Paint-Outs, Lebanon Illinois Methodist Church
Fine Arts Series, Shaw Nature Reserve Plein
Air Artists’ Exhibit, and the St Louis
Central West End Art Show. I like to get out
at least once a week to paint with other
plein air artists, under a variety of weather
conditions. This holds a special fascination
for me because each outing is filled with
spontaneity and surprise. In addition to the
never-ending learning process, these
paint-outs provide stimulating opportunities
for exchange of ideas and constructive
criticism by fellow artists and interested
observers.
Artist
Statement
When
painting landscapes on location, I value
essence over precision in shape and form, and
rely on my senses to get the feeling and mood
of the place. I try to capture the sun’s
warmth on a meadow, the coolness of shadows
in a forest, or the cold sparkle of snow on a
winter day. Studio work has great merit, but
I prefer the challenges of plein air
painting. For me painting directly from
nature adds the realism of constantly
changing patterns of light and shadow, with
overall impressions of the scene influenced
by surrounding sights and sounds, and the
natural elements of temperature, wind and
weather. I also believe that plein air
painting helps me capture the spontaneity of
a scene that exists but for a passing moment
in time, much like recording a treasured
event in a visual diary.
