Neal Hughes
Artist's Statement

I am an American realist and my primary focus is the landscape and figure. My roots are American and I identify with artists such as Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth, as well as the American Impressionists.

The scenes I depict can be in the area surrounding my home which includes New Jersey and Pennsylvania or as far away as Monhegan Island, Maine which is a favorite summer retreat

In my work, I combine observation with memory and imagination to create images in which I attempt to transform the beauty of nature or the ordinary and everyday into a work of art that is rooted in tradition but with a contemporary vision.

My inspiration can come from the quality of the light at a certain time of day, an extraordinary view or the underlying beauty of the commonplace. I find great joy in discovering the relationship between the divine and nature as I work and I hope that the viewer of my paintings will sense something bigger than the scene before them; something with a larger sense of purpose.

I am blessed to be an artist and I feel a responsibility to use the gifts I have received to do something that will give glory to God.

I was educated at The Philadelphia College Of Art (University of the Arts) and currently reside in Moorestown , New Jersey . I also studied figure painting at the Fleischer Art Memorial in Philadelphia . I am a member of the American Society of Marine Artists and Oil Painters of America. I also paint with the Rancocas Valley Plein Air Painters and a figure painting group in my hometown.

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