Hudson Valley based artist Kevin David Palfreyman has been painting in oils for the past twenty years. His original inspiration was the work of the Hudson River School artists, especially the luminists including John Frederick Kensett, Sanford Gifford, and George Inness. He works in all genres including landscapes, human and animal portraits, still lifes and figures. His work is can be found in private collections internationally.

Having loved the outdoors and worked and played in it all of my life and having always had a strong urge to create things, I feel I have found the perfect marriage of the two in landscape painting. From a study of English romantic poetry earlier in life I have found myself with a view of the natural world as a benevolent presence – a source of calm and a connection to the spiritual world. The act of painting is so engaging to me that, when I stand at my easel in a beautiful wood or a farmer’s field, distractions disappear and time passes unnoticed - often until darkness intervenes. It’s a good day when I feel that the finished canvas carries that romantic, benevolent sense of the natural world.

Although I began with pastels, I have found that with oils I enjoy not only the intellectual aspect of creating a painting but even the tactile qualities of the medium – the way paint comes off of the brush and its ability to create silky softness or crispness of line. I’m attracted to scenes of warmth and tranquility and often edit out signs of the presence of man. For me, there is civilization in enough in real life.

I admire the work of many contemporary artists such as Joe McGurl, Kathleen Dunphy, and John Macdonald, but I have a special interest in the lost wisdom of the past masters. I am especially influenced by the later painters of the Hudson River School, such as Sanford Gifford, John Frederick Kensett, and George Inness.

Although I paint many different kinds of landscapes and still lifes, lately I have been especially fascinated with skies and sunsets. In this series the land serves mainly as an anchor to the buoyancy and light of the sky. My greatest aspiration for all of my work is that it may remind the viewer of our place in the natural world and help to reconnect him with the sense of spirit that nature’s serenity can inspire.

Facebook: Cedar Grove Studio

Email: kevindpal53@gmail.com