About


We are fortunate to live at this time and place and do not necessarily need to travel someplace else to see beautiful things. There is so much beauty before us in our everyday lives; sometimes you just need someone to point it out. With my paintings, I try to uncover those overlooked vignettes.

I love to paint small town life and rural America and find it interesting no matter the season. Many of my paintings depict country roads leading to unique old farm buildings or backstreet alleys between main street homes. I find endless inspiration in the colors and composition of sunlight and shadow on frame houses and weathered barns.

I am always scouting new and interesting things to paint. My iPhone is full of pictures that will become future paintings and I have been known to abruptly stop the car, or run down an alley, if the sun and shadow are balanced just right; too much or too little of either does not make for an interesting painting. I start each painting by placing the dark shadow patterns first in a pleasing way within the canvas dimensions and then I paint in the sunlit areas. Everything else gets placed in between those two values. 

A successful painting for me is when the sunlight is interesting only because of the shadows nearby.



Events & Awards


2024 Art of the Land, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County
Hpnorable Mention Last Light

2024 Light of the Easel National Juried Show, Rice Gallery, Overland Park, KS
Best of Show Food & Liquor

2023 Art of the Land, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County

2023 Through Hopper’s Lens National Juried Show, Copley Society of Art, Boston
Alden Bryan Memorial Award for Tranditional Landscape Painting in Oil  Maine Light

2022 Art of the Land, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County

2022 Bluff Strokes Paint Out, Dubuque, Iowa
2nd Place All Around - Julien Dubuque Bridge

2021 Art of the Land, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County
Honorable Mention - Around the Bend

2020 Art of the Land, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County
Best of Show - Boone Creek Headwaters

2019 Art of the Land, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County

2018 Art of the Land, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County

2018 Prairie Plein Air, Schaumburg, IL

2016 Art of the Land, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County



Media


July 2022 RedDotBlog.com, RedDot Artist Profile: Eric Larson