Joe Craighead

Artist Statement

“My greatest love of painting is always being on location observing and painting the wonder of creation. The major focus I have in art and life is to enjoy God and bring glory to Him. This is my primary thought and meditation about my process, and all the art I create. I constantly think about what I learned from the great outdoor painter Joe Paquet which is to increase one’s sensitivity to nature. What an intense struggle this is but not only that, I try to be sensitive to the unseen qualities of creation. God’s eternal power can be viewed in every scene and we all marvel at the wonder of light. “Let there be light” Genesis 1:3. I am always trying to paint the illusion of light in order to reflect the miracle of a created world illuminated by the spoken Word. When painting en plein I am primarily focused on what the light is doing and how to paint a convincing illusion of what I am observing. I am always painting the scenes of where I travel and the locations that surround me from the grand to the commonplace. There is beauty in it all.”

BIOGRAPHY

Joe Craighead is recently relocated to upstate South Carolina from southern California with his wife and children and is fully immersed in all the new landscape to paint. Joe grew up in New Orleans and remembers seeing his grandmothers’ paintings from Cuba, Venezuela and Puerto Rico which later inspired him to learn to paint himself. Joe is self-taught as they say but has received instruction and mentoring from some of his favorite artists including Joe Paquet, Casey Baugh, Kyle Stuckey and many others. Joe is an Associate Member of the Oil Painters of America and American Impressionist Society.