Landscape painter Mark Flickinger translates his experiences of being in nature onto his canvases.
By Rochelle Belsito
There is something special about observing the landscape for artist Mark Flickinger. He is exploring not only the color, light and shadows, but also the feeling and experience of being in the place to create a painting that is wholly a painting. It is an approach not driven by photorealism, but the skillful eye of an artist whose direct observation is informational and has enhanced his art over the years.
The artist and his family enjoy traveling, and each trip—to places that he has returned to often and those that he hasn’t visited before—is a new exploration, a discovery. “I sort of transpose the experience into paint and make a whole new experience,” elaborates Flickinger, adding. “I’m not doing paintings of places as much as making the experience of the landscape as a starting off point.”
Working on-site is important to Flickinger’s work, as he often does small studies, takes photographs and draws. He also finds cuttings, stones and rocks that he brings into the studio for the more finite details. However, as an artist, Flickinger relies on his own eye and vision. “I’m not interested in the portrait of places; I like textures and the light. Oftentimes I may quit painting when I am outside and stay out there to see the light do something,” he explains. “Then, the final painting is more about that instead of the original idea.”
This is derived from his own understanding of art and landscape. He has studied the works of members from the Hudson River School and visiting the national parks they’ve painted like Acadia in Maine and Yellowstone and Yosemite. “I realized that the artists that I admired—everyone from Thomas Cole to Thomas Moran—were meditating the view,” Flickinger notes. “They were making the adjustments they wanted, and that was sort of liberating for me.” Flickinger’s artwork then is more about the memory and his experiences at the location rather than the specific rocks or lookout points.
The techniques of painting with broken colors and intricate marks are what the artist likes to explore. He says, “I enjoy the little moments where the paint language inserts itself. Photorealism isn’t the point for me. I like to have something surprising happen with the surface and color mixtures. That’s what I enjoy.” This can be found reflected in one of his favorite times of day to paint—the afternoon when the sun is just out of frame and the saturated light glimmers across a variety of surfaces. This is where the viewer also can dive into the work and explore, finding something new in the work every time they view it.
Beginning May 4, Flickinger’s large-scale painting UPLAND RAVINE, SOUTHERN FLINT HILLS AFTER A HEAVY RAIN will be on view the new exhibition Size Matters at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, Kansas. It is the second time he will be exhibiting at the museum, having participated in a group exhibition of small paintings about five years ago. This painting is from a location near his home on the western edge of the southern Flint Hills, where the grasslands erode into swaths of land where water can pool. “There is a sense of kind of living on top of an inverted bowl [in the Flint Hills]. You can see for miles from so many of the upland places, but I like to find the low spots where you are inside of the bowl to create an intimate space on a large scale,” he says. “It felt counter intuitive and instead of a large, cinematic vista, I wanted something that drew you in closer.”
Following that exhibition opening, Flickinger will have his painting SUNLIGHT ON THE CASCADE on view in the Oil Painters of America’s 2025 National Juried Exhibition. The show, at the Herrig Center for the Arts in Bradenton, Florida, runs May 30 to June 27. Then, on July 11, his next solo show at Addington Gallery in Chicago gets underway.
The exhibition, New Works, 9 Views, will feature mostly smaller scale paintings from nine places that are specific to the artist. He calls them “good old standards worth going back to,” as they continually surprise the artist and allow him to find fresh experiences every time he returns.
contact informationmarkflickinger.com
representationSNW Gallery, Manhattan, KS, snwgallery.comReuben Saunders Gallery, Wichita, KS, reubensaundersgallery.comAddington Gallery, Chicago, IL, addingtongallery.comEdington Gallery, Indianapolis, IN, edingtongallery.art
upcoming showsSize Matters, Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, KS, May 4-July 20, sandzen.orgOil Painters of America’s National Juried Exhibition, Herrig Center for the Arts, Bradenton, FL, May 30-June 27, oilpaintersofamerica.comNew Work, 9 Views, solo exhibition, Addington Gallery, July 11-September 1
Mark Flickinger received the First Place – Plein Air award at the 2024 Oil Painters of America National Convention Wet Paint Competition. The award, sponsored by Southwest Art, is a digital package including this article on our website.
Looking for the latest show previews, industry updates and artist profiles? Subscribe to Southwest Art today.
The post Mark Flickinger | Experiencing the Landscape appeared first on Southwest Art Magazine.