Cold Country Hot Coffee

"It's difficult for me to express in words a particular philosophy about my work. A writer doesn't have to paint a picture when he hands in a book, does he? What I want to 'say' about a painting is right there on the canvas. I simply try to paint one of the most exciting periods of our history as honestly as I can.

"It's not what I paint, but how I paint it. In this case, the open foreground takes the eye to the fire and the men. The focus of the painting is the fire, but the grouping of men on the left and the wagon and horse extending to the right frame it well."