I wanted to create a landscape painting suggesting the University of Notre Dame. I started out with a non-figurative setup that reminded me of the reality of ND. I then started to impart my will on those shapes but in every instance I was not happy for one reason or another. I kept changing the story by playing with ideas regarding color and shapes, always feeling that I had not yet found its essence.  

As I kept trying different scenerios. I found myself frustrated because the dome kept dominating the canvas. I needed to find a way for the viewer’s eyes to get off the dome; all of the sudden I (emotionally) took my brush and swirled all the paint together and moved the dome to the top left. At that moment I suddenly realized I had found a well structured landscape suggesting The University of Notre Dame. I now knew I had found the essence of the story.

**NOTE: the images you see below plus many, many more variations are beneath the finished surface of the painting above.