Landscape Paintings Celebrate the Healing Beauty of the Outdoors

Contemporary Landscape Painting

“Hidden Valley 1”

Artist Ariel Lee pays homage to the power of the outdoors through contemporary landscape painting. Her colorful works focus on grand, sweeping scenery with precise brushstrokes,  presenting a love letter to both natural beauty and the therapeutic effect that it can have. “It puts everything into perspective for me,” Lee tells My Modern Met. “Being outdoors is similar to a reset button—I can feel the tension build when I’m away too long.”

Lee has an exacting style that depicts meticulous features, such as the shadow patterns of bark on a tree or the multicolored rocks that line a hiking path. To achieve this level of detail, she snaps pictures for reference rather than painting on location. “There’s too much to see and do,” Lee explains, “that I've found working from photos is the best balance of being present while I’m outdoors and gathering inspiration.”

Lee has trekked to the likes of Joshua Tree National Park, the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the forests in Colorado. As for what’s next, she says, “I don’t have any solid plans yet, but I would love to paint the Rockies or someplace in British Columbia.”

You can purchase a selection of Lee’s contemporary landscape paintings as prints in her online shop.

Artist Ariel Lee pays homage to the healing power of the outdoors through contemporary landscape paintings.

Contemporary Art Paintings

“Hidden Valley 2”

Landscape Painting

“Hidden Valley 3”

Contemporary Landscape Painting

“Little Yucca”

Landscape Painting

“Kearsarge Lakes”

Contemporary Landscape Painting by Ariel Lee

“Forester Pass”

Contemporary Landscape Painting

“Queens Valley”

Contemporary Landscape Painting by Ariel Lee

“Canyonlands”

Contemporary Landscape Paintings

“Ophir Pass”

Landscape Painting

“Rae Lakes”

Contemporary Art Paintings

“Gunsmoke Sunset”

Contemporary Art Paintings

“On The Way to Headstone Rock”

Ariel Lee: Website | Instagram 

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Ariel Lee. 

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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