How do you find inspiration?
Larry Cannon: I became attuned to the natural environment when I moved to San Francisco in my 20s, but only came to painting in my mid-50s. I lived in apartments with fantastic views of the bay where I watched the spectacle of the late afternoon fog rolling through the Golden Gate and across the bay. And I raced sailboats on San Francisco Bay where the wind and tides could literally be felt through the tiller of the boat.
Those close contacts with Nature and the forces of Nature coalesced into a passion after viewing an exhibition of watercolors by the early 19th century artist Percy Gray in Carmel-by-the-Sea. From that point on I sought my inspiration from plein air painting events in beautiful National Parks, Rocky Mountain valleys, and along the wonderful California coastal environment around me.
I continue to find my inspiration in the California vineyards, western mountains and especially on the Pacific Coastline where the ever-changing clash between the surf and land makes me acutely aware of the forces and power of nature that I yearn to feel first and then seek to express through the rich flow of watercolors which I see as related to the flow of Nature.
To see more of Larry’s work, visit:
Website
