2007 STATEMENT       NOTES       HOME ARTIST'S STATEMENT These paintings juxtapose the landscape of Israel including the lands that may one day become the independent state of Palestine with the landscape of Washington State. Thematically paired, the paintings address regional differences in topography, water resources and indigenous people while continually comparing the ancient world and the confines of its modern existence with the expanse of the American West. The paintings develop slowly, usually taking more than a year to complete. The imagery emerges and recedes several times during the process, developing the complexity of color and tonality as it goes. Wars in the Middle East as well as events in the Pacific Northwest brought images to mind from a three year period when I lived in Israel with my husband and young son. The paintings were not inspired by religious fervor or political ideology, but rather, my intent is that the land, the ground on which all peoples stand, prove transcendent in the context of the painted landscape. Kathryn Altus 2007