Curtis Engesser

Painting

Curtis graduated from Lafayette College with a degree in English and pursued a career in Publishing. He quickly discovered he needed to pursue a more hands on profession that exploited his skills to make and fix things. Eventually, he started his own welding business and became an expert doing metal repairs, building decorative railings and making metal furniture. He taught welding at Sussex County Technical School for 17 years. He retired in 2020. He started painting in college and it quickly became a passion. After reading how the French Impressionists painted outside, he began doing his landscape painting en plein air. Being out in nature allows him to see colors as they are, while being in front of his subject. Once a painting is started, there’s an urgency to complete it before the light changes. Learning to finish his workquickly he describes: “It’s like an explosion. The paintings seem to happen by themselves, I just have to show up.” Curtis enjoys being out in nature and sharing it with birds and animals, including an occasional bear and bobcat! His favored landscape locations are The Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area and Sandyston, in Sussex County. His work has been influenced by American and French impressionists including artists from the Pennsylvania Impressionists of the early 20th century, especially Edward Redfield. 

Gallery