"My art comes out of my experiences and memories, both real and imagined. I use rocks and trees in my paintings as metaphors for the permanence of nature and the flow of life through generations of peoples.

"I believe the single most important element of my work is an unfashionable search for beauty. An attempt to show a place haunted by an invisible presence, the mysterious nature of things unseen, but felt by the emotions deep within each of us."

In regard to portraits, "little attempt is made to capture a likeness of the person. The portrait is painted with an effort to capture the feel that I have for them. Their persona, maybe, the things they surround themselves with, the occupation they follow, their effect upon others."

Born in 1932, David Messick grew up in Arapahoe, Colorado, a region of plains and large ranches, that stretches away to the distant Rockies, visible on the western horizon. Hills there are low and rolling, and the trees are mostly slender and supple to withstand severe winds. Messick's current work, when not portraiture, is one of memories, imagination, and meditation in forest settings.

Messick's perspectives and understatements in cololr suggest that he paints from a deeply private inspiration. Many of his pieces are vistas of sky and skylines with portions of trees outlined in the foreground. his colors are those of nature as seen with the naked eye, nearblack blues and greens in night scenes, or sunlight so intense it wipes out subtle hues.

The effect is often realistic, leaving the viewer wanting more. The subject appears as a recognizable shape, but details are unclear. And the atmosphere is autumnal, due to Messick's choice of non-primary colors.