Jeff Mathison has always been an artist. Raised in the Philadelphia suburbs, He graduated from Penn State in 1972 with a BFA degree. He so enjoyed the combination of town culture and woodsy countryside, that he never left Centre County, Pa. Retired from a wonderful career doing graphics, mapping, and artist renderings for an archaeological consulting firm, he is now free to paint. For many years, Jeff experimented with a variety of artistic styles and media. Around 2002, he chose to concentrate on watercolor, which allows for colorful improvisation as well as exacting realism. He began taking photos of the local landscape when walking or biking in the woods. The resulting studio paintings were good but seemed stiff. The plein air movement was a revelation for Jeff. After attending local outdoor painting events, he gained enough confidence to travel to Chincoteague VA, the Adirondacks, and even Moab, Utah for plein air events. It was quite an eye-opener to paint rolling ocean waves, or red rock canyons after all his years in green Pennsylvania! Outdoor painting obliges the artist to think fast. The light you see one minute may not be there the next. He believes the spontaneity and excitement carry over into his studio work, helping him bring both emotion and skill to the paper. Jeff’s major interest is figure painting, in vintage clothing, or just nude. About ten years ago, he succeeded in combining the nudes with landscapes, by working from photos of models in natural settings. In this Free Spirit series, he depicts the harmony of the human spirit with the natural world.