I have always felt a great connection to the land, the forms, the colors and textures, the power of nature. I am most fortunate to live in the beautiful St. Lawrence River valley and within a half hour drive of the Adirondack Park, a 6 million acre protected area of state and privately owned land located in the northern part of New York State. One of my favorite times in the history of American Art is the era of the Hudson River School Painters, who choose to portray the vast, scenic wilderness areas of the Catskills, Adirondacks, and Hudson Valley during the middle 50 years of the 19th century. Yet I always wondered why their focus was on the pristine grandeur of nature when at the very same time civilization was in the process of cutting down the forests, clearing the land, building canals and railroads, and marching destructively across the continent in the name of Manifest Destiny. So this was one of the topics I proposed to explore as I applied for the fellowship for independent study. My intent was to read as much as I could on the prominent artists of the Hudson River School, see as much of their artwork as I could, and also to experience more of the region by hiking, canoeing, mountain climbing, and working on the development of my own paintings. Paintings, summary text, and bibliography follow...