Thunderhead Riders 2016

Mark Maggiori painted "Thunderhead Riders" with oils on canvas, and you can almost smell the dry desert air. Look at how those riders emerge from the landscape. The artist’s process feels like a dance between control and chance. The colour palette is restrained, but then those clouds emerge, exploding with fiery light. I bet Maggiori stood back and thought, how can I make these clouds move? Look at the way he uses thick, impasto strokes to capture the light. It's like he's sculpting with paint, building up these layers of texture that give the clouds such a tangible, almost edible quality. And those riders! See how a single stroke of white suggests the turning of a horse’s head. It reminds me of Frederic Remington, but also maybe even Titian! Painters are always looking, borrowing, and riffing off each other, aren’t they? This painting is a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation.