Productivity, market share, deadlines, stock price, strategy, returns on investment, stress – these are the key drivers of the “real” world. Shape, color, light, surface, form, contrast, energy, emotion – these are the key elements of the actual real world. The contrast between these two worlds is what inspires me as an artist. Constant pressing issues seem to keep us from really seeing the splendor of the world around us. I think it is critical to find a place within us to dwell in beauty.

For me, the giant skies and open landscapes of New Mexico have become the antidote to the “real” world. It is here that I feel a deep sense of calm, which has created balance in my life and inspired my art. I am drawn to the historic adobe structures of the pueblos, the sensual foothills and mountains of the Sangre de Christos, and the dramatic gorge of the Rio Grande, which for me represent magical places in which anything is possible.

In my paintings, I try to convey a sense of time standing still, offering a refuge from reality. Through the use of stylized forms and vibrant colors, I hope to suggest a perfect, though surreal, world. My paintings are often inspired by actual places, started plein air and then completed in the studio. But whether these places actually exist is not important. My goal is to create an ageless place of beauty and mystery, where the worries of the “real” world cannot intrude.

- Dirk Herrman