ARTIST STATEMENT: LEE WEBSTER SHAW

I grew up in the Midwest and have always loved dramatic weather. Thunder and lightning were not something to be feared, but a source of excitement and entertainment. At night we would get up to watch storms come in. There were so many tornado warnings at certain times of the year that our old dogs would calmly head down the stairs to to basement when the tornado warning sirens went off. Recently while driving across Minnesota, serious storm clouds were heading towards the car, coming in on the left of the highway, and on the right was sun and rainwater left by the previous front that had passed through, sparkling on the pavement. The sky was filled with moving black clouds on the left, and puffy, cottony sheep-like clouds floating in the blue on the right. I was filled with awe for this amazing sky and ended up painting this series of tiny paintings as a result.