Growing up in the Qu’Appelle Valley region of southern Saskatchewan allowed Mike Keepness the freedom to discover and explore the coulees and hills of its distinctive prairie landscape. It is an area that inspired him and informed his work.Mike painted en plein air and enjoyed the opportunities and challenges this approach brought to his professional art practice. He noted that “although it can be quite the task to deal with the effects of weather, the end result of all outdoor studies is that they are good for colour reference. Back in the studio I am able to transpose these studies onto larger canvases, at which point I then rely on a combination of memory, field studies and photography. Through it all, I can confidently say that being in nature and experiencing it firsthand is the foundation of all my work.”