About the Artist

Tim Pfeiffer is an artist whose serene landscapes conjure worlds concocted from the mesh of his intense love of nature and his refusal to merely duplicate what his eyes register. The Washington-based painter, who works exclusively in oils, is a lifelong outdoorsman. Though a keen observer of his surroundings, his romantic landscapes retain an otherworldly feel.

The carefully wrought textures of his paintings are rife with niches and dark corners. His images simulate the experience of trekking through unfamiliar terrain, where seemingly mundane, stolid elements of nature incite wonderment.

Inspired by the Hudson River School, a mid-19th century art movement, Tim is a contemporary master of atmospheric perspective. This technique, which creates an illusion of depth, is a key element of his complex, multilayered compositions.

There is much to notice in Tim’s paintings, making the discovery process a key pleasure of his art. Though some may recognize aspects of nature or landscape painting per se in these pictures, Tim’s work is not easily located in the familiar world. The source of his paintings can be found more easily, if at all, in the landscapes of his mind.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1955. I’ve been interested in art since my pre-school days. I was fascinated with the process of drawing a turkey by tracing the outline of my hand. Pure magic. When I was around ten years old, my mother who dabbled in oil paint, set up a small easel and gave me a very basic introduction into painting. Lesson one: If the sunlight is coming from this side, then your shadows will be on the other side. Ok. That’s sounds easy. I was hooked!

I later studied fine art at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, but never had a painting class. I’m a self-taught painter. Another words, I have reinvented the wheel many, many times. For me, it’s the challenges, the problem solving, and discovery process involved in creating a painting in oils that I find so enjoyable and rewarding. I love creating the illusion of atmosphere, and three demential space on a two dimensional surface.

I create most of my landscapes from memory, and a lot of imagination. When working from memory, one tends to exaggerate the things that struck you about a scene at the time. Whether it’s the way the sun lights up the side of a distant mountain or rock, or the misty fog rolling in to fill a quiet valley down below. My hope is that my paintings will bring a sense of great peace, serenity, and wonder to the viewer, in the same way that they do for me as I create them.

I have the honor of having my work included in many private collections throughout the United States and beyond.
For that I am very grateful.