Philip Koch Paintings

   Philip Koch's easel set up with White Mountain Pond, vine  charcoal, 8 x 12", 2014 Two stories . Things that happened to me early in my four decades of painting the landscape out in the field. Both still make me smile.  First the funny one, though in a slightly painful way. In the summer of 1972 I was just about to leave Indiana University in Bloomington with my newly minted MFA degree in painting. I had been very happy living in an old army barracks that had been converted to married student housing. So for one of my final Bloomington paintings I was set up in a field painting the somewhat dilapidated building that housed my apartment. It was going well and I was pleased with myself.  A young girl wandered by and stopped to see what I was doing. She looked for a long minute and finally asked me "Did you paint that?"   I readied myself for the praise I was sure would follow and pridefully responded "Yes." The girl managed a sad smile an

Here is a collection of photos from my current exhibition, The Mirror of Nature: The Art of Philip Koch  at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, MD. The show opened with a spirited crowd on Friday, Nov. 7. I gave a slide presentation and gallery talk on Sunday, Nov. 16. The show continues through Feb. 22, 2015. Normally on this blog I write commentary about my work and philosophy. Just for this time though I'd like to let the work speak for itself.

Above is the view of one of the walls in the  Washington County Museum of Fine Arts ' Bowman Gallery hung with my paintings for their show that opened last evening,  The Mirror of Nature: The Art of  Philip Koch.  The show will run in this Hagerstown, MD Museum through Feb. 22, 2015. Back in 1995 the Museum hung a smaller exhibit of my work in the same space. This new show included much more work and fills more of the Museum's galleries. Yet for me standing in the galleries last night I was struck with the sense I and my work were returning to an important chapter from my past.  In fact one of my favorite paintings in the new show is titled Returning. So often the world seems to bowl us over with a river of sensations. If we took in all of this deluge consciously we'd be completely overloaded.  I think we'd be unable to move. We had to evolve to be selective about what we notice. Philip Koch, Returning, oil on canvas, 28 x 42", 2008 Instead most of w