Terry Orletsky

Turner and Monet provide inspiration. Their work glows with light and their work is infused with motion. They made landscapes relevant.
My work emulates. Landscapes are fluid; skies threaten, clouds move, grain sways, trees rustle. A city scape is frenetic with abstract traffic. Mist rises and a path beckons one into the scene. The canvas is attacked with knife and brush and enthusiasm and the experience of long life. My paintings exude moods and motion and the evolution of my art tends more and more to the knife and rich color. One collector said, “You are obviously not afraid of the canvas!” I resonate with that.
Many of my paintings hint of man – a road or a pathway; a collection of farm buildings. My painting of the ghost town of Bodie has the work of man being reabsorbed into the fabric of nature. The lone trees on the Saskatchewan landscape overshadow the vast expanse of the prairie of grain planted by the farmer. The thunderstorm overpowers the homestead. I invite you in.


Portfolio:

Illuminations

Landscapes featuring light, cloud, and the relationship between Man and Eartyh.

Great Plains Abstraction No. 2 “Great Plains Abstraction No. 2”

Capturing the bold brushwork of the French Impressionists on the Great Plains of North America. Simple homestead buildings are starkly contrasted to a gray summer sky with the hay grasses providing the a sunny foreground. Man and Earth in harmony. Bold knife work. Gallery wrapped canvas 24x24x1.5 ready to hang.

Nebulosity No. 1 “Nebulosity No. 1”

Nebulous clouds splayed over the California coast in winter. Mid-morning light infuses the froth. The sense is mystical and surreal. Gallery wrapped canvas 30x40x1.5 ready to hang.

Nebulosity No. 2 “Nebulosity No. 2”

Sunrise. The daily resurrection of the Earth. The sea reflects the light of the resurrection. Or maybe a sunset. The day expires and awaits its reawakening. Bold knife and brush. Gallery wrapped canvas 40x30x1.5 ready to hang.

Upon the Heath “Upon the Heath”

Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air. A place for witches; stark wasteland with barren horizon and vegetation more weed-like than not - an almost post-apocalyptic vision. Nature survives; greenery signals new beginnings. Gallery wrapped canvas 24x24x1.5 ready to hang.

Where the Buffalo Roam “Where the Buffalo Roam”

Clouds cover the plains at the end of a hot summer day. A thunderstorm looms. In days gone by the plains would be dotted with buffalo and antelope. Montana may be Big Sky country but so is the rest of the Great Plains. Gallery wrapped canvas 36x48x1.5 ready to hang.