"Sensuality of paint, line, color, figure - that's what interests me. Even my landscapes are about sensuality. Life lived fully and completely. Something catches my attentionn - like a haystack ourside Kalispell - and I think about it. Maybe take a photo or do a sketch. Later, all that thinking kind of explodes onto canvas, allowing me to capture a scene, a feeling, all at once. These paintings come fast, or they don't come at all. My goal is to be spontaneous... not mannered or labored... I want them to look like they just happened. I don't fix things - I change them.
I've been painting since I was ninteen. As far back as I can remember, I've wanted to paint. I don't know why. I just knew I wanted to make marks."
~ Freeman W. Butts
1/21/1928 - 5/23/1998
Beginning with the L.A. Abstract Expressionists art scene and continuing to Bozeman and Livingston, Montana Freeman Butts’ fluidity of line and speed of execution define his figurative work and landscapes. His signature language of supple paint and gesturalism show his ability to merge a figurative style with abstraction for his definitive role in American art.
