11. Oklahoma: Farmlands

There were certain states that when I went to paint, they really took me back to past adventures! Oklahoma holds some pretty great memories for me! My band got the chance to record our EP with Rich from the band Pillar out there in his home state when I was 16. It was winter, so we didn’t see much scenery in Tulsa. But I felt like this farm scene captured Oklahoma for me the bright dazzling sun or sparkling new journeys. I remember it really feeling like an adventure and the first for big things to come for my band. My band did go on to record a full length album a couple years later but different things called us away from music and then I found art!

12. Nebraska: Chimney Rock

I’ve been through Nebraska but haven’t really stopped there. I’d love to go in the spring and see the Sand Hill Crane migration on the Platte! So that was something I was thinking about painting for this state but, when I saw pictures of Chimney rock I found it to be such a interesting landscape I had to pick it!

13. Massachusetts: Cape Cod

By State number 13 I was trying to paint a little more east coast to even out the map’s progress. It’s pretty weird to think I haven’t been anywhere on the east coast yet! So it’s a little bit trickier to know what to paint.

When I settled on painting  Massachusetts, I keep seeing pictures from Cape Cod and knew it was a place I want to see!

14. Florida: The Keys

Florida had me a bit confused with its shape! I even decided to skip it for awhile, but then I couldn’t resist getting that southeast corner of the map filled in.

I wanted to paint an ocean scene but was exactly sure how. Then I found pictures of the white sands and the way these palms lined the beaches in the Keys and decided it was perfect!

 15. Utah: Monument Valley

I had this idea for Utah pretty early on, I knew I wanted none other then the bizarrely beautiful Monument Valley for the map. And I have a night or dusk scene planned for a few states, so this one was asking for it! 

I was pretty nervous when I started this one. I always start with the sky and this was a lot different the skies I usually paint! I was pretty happy with the result but I almost scraped it because I was super worried I wasn’t going to get the landscape to match the scene! Thankfully my mom convinced me to just try and see what would happen! I would love to see this place someday

16. Illinois: French Canyon at Starved Rock State Park

Illinois is another state I’d been through but not to visit, so I was a little stumped at what to paint. Only driving through a state doesn’t always give you the most photographic scene driving on the major highways and freeways. So when I came across pictures of this falls at Starved Rock State Park I was blow away by how beautiful it was and knew it had to be the scene!

In the end of July 2019 this was the first State Scene I got to visit after I painted it! I was unreal walking into the canyon with my decal and this beautiful site right before my eyes, bigger than I even expected!

17. Pennsylvania: Ricketts Glen State Park

I was having one of those days not really having a clear next state in mind. So I just picked a few random states I’ve never been to and started researching. Finding Ricketts Glen State Park was liking finding gold! I was so captivated by this park and all its greenery! Now I want to go there!

18. Rhode Island: Mohegan Cliffs

The smallest state! This state was ready to make its mark pretty early on! I found the beautiful Mohegan cliffs towering along the ocean on Block Island so perfect for this state, because even though it’s small in the scheme of the US it still hold big things like these towering seaside cliffs.

I remember struggling a big on this one, knowing the state would be so tiny on the full map but wanting to capture something big for those who call it home.

19 and 51. North Dakota: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The only state I had to do a total repaint on. I reached the end and had the complete map in front of me I just couldn’t bring myself to be proud of the first ND. 

I thought long about this state before I decided to paint Theodore Roosevelt National park. Once I decided on it, I skipped it for a bit because I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it happen. I struggled trying to convey how vast this scene is. (That’s why I had to eventually redo it)
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I’ve never been to this park but I like that’s it’s named after Teddy Roosevelt because he was quite the explorer. However, I have seen the badlands, and it’s an incredible sight! My family stopped somewhere in ND on a trip back from Montana.

State 20! Wisconsin: Door County

I had my mind set on this being a lake scene since two Great Lakes border Wisconsin. My mom told me to look up Door County and that led me to find some real gems! 💎

Close runner up would have been a St Croix river scene. My family canoes and kayaks that river and we’ve made a lot of great memories there on the border. Plus sometimes it’s a great excuse to head to to WI for Paradise pizza!