Rainy Morning in the Mesa Country 2019

Mark Maggiori made this painting, Rainy Morning in the Mesa Country, probably in his studio, with brushes and oil paint, but really, it was made in his imagination. Look at those strokes of red, thick and confident, they just keep coming, shaping the land, the mood. I can almost feel Mark there, wrestling with the canvas, trying to capture that feeling of being out there, alone, with just the horse and the rain. What was he thinking as he daubed that white paint on the horse’s rump? Did he pause, consider, or just go for it? I bet it was a little of both. That one stroke holds so much light, so much promise. It's like he's saying, "Even in the rain, there's beauty, there's hope." Maggiori seems to be looking back to other painters, the ones who knew how to make a landscape feel alive, feel real. And he’s adding his own voice to that conversation. He's reminding us that painting is about feeling, about being present in the world, even when the world is wet and a bit lonely.