Inspired by the beauty, diversity, the ever-changing atmosphere and environment of the Potomac River and its surroundings, pastelist Daniel Wise has created a series of paintings depicting scenes along the Potomac River. “383: Viewing the Potomac” will be featured at The Art League Gallery March 5 – April 6, 2009.

Wise grew up in Colorado, far from large bodies of water. Now that he lives in Washington, he’s drawn to render a different landscape. “The Potomac and the immediate surroundings are constantly evolving and changing… the colors, trees, wildlife, and the people. There is so much diversity.”

“I’m attracted to a scene or composition by light and how it interacts with the landscape. How the light effects the atmosphere, the fog, snow, or the sunset, and how the light interacts with different objects is particularly intriguing.”

Pastel is integral to Wise’s work. “I like to be close to what I’m doing, have my hands in it. Pastel is very tactile, and is such a versatile medium. It can be used to create drawings or paintings. My works are paintings. I go for color, value, and shape and approach a pastel painting like I would an oil painting. They are the same pigments that are in oil paints, minus the oil.”

“I want viewers to come away with a sense of the diversity of the landscape. I want them to get a sense of the many moods of the Potomac…. You can go back to the same spot, look at the same scene from the same vantage point and it will always look different. I hope viewers will come away with a love of landscape.”

383 is the distance in miles of the Potomac River. Rendering scenes along the river is a continual project for Wise. For his show at The Art League Gallery, viewers can enjoy scenes from Harpers Ferry, WV to Cumberland, MD to the DC area. Wise hopes to get from Fairfax Stone and to the Chesapeake Bay as he continues the project.

Wise is a Signature member of the Pastel Society of America and the Maryland Pastel Society. He is also a member of The Art League, the Washington Society of Landscape Painters, the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association, Audubon Artists, and Allied Artists of America. His work is held in private, public, and corporate collections throughout the country.