Jon Crane

"I have always been a person repelled by the cities, preferring to spend my time in rural areas. I paint the simple landscapes because that is where I feel at peace." "Most of my landscapes come from places that I have run across in my travels through the rural parts of America. In recent years I have been drawn to the Amish areas because of their simple way of life."

"Occasionally I work on location, but most of my painting is done in my studio at Mystic, or on the road in Ed, our motorhome. Because of time constraints, I work almost entirely from photographs I have taken. It would be much more romantic to set up every day for a month in the middle of a corn field in Iowa, but not very practical. Most of the scenes are painted much as I found them. After all, they were put there for a higher purpose than mine. Some artists are blessed with the ability to create wonderful works from their minds. I have to resort to stealing from the natural world around me."

"As an artist, I am supposed to be able to explain the meaning of my work. ...If the meaning of my work needs to be explained, I'll leave that up to the academics. After all, that is what they do. As for me, I'd rather talk about fly-fishing."

"I plan to continue sharing the world around me as I see it to the best of my God given abilities for as long as I can. I hope my work will bring a little peace and well being to a world that could certainly use a little."