Gale Wallar

The acrylic and oil paintings of Ex Montibus Salus (Latin for all good comes from the mountains) have a compositional and thematic focus on the upper regions of the mountains, in the snow accumulation zones. It is in these zones that compressed snow and ice form the glaciers that eventually feed the lakes, rivers, and creeks. The works depict the most changeable parts of the topography; above the tree line, with fragile textures of airy snow and sharp multifacted blue shadows among massive blocks of ice .

Solid and ephemeral at the same time, I use my own photographs as a souce of information for the paintings; extrapolating and animating the imagery for the compositions.  The earliest mountain paintings date to when I was in my mid-twenties living in Switzerland, depicting mountains because of the visual and spiritual appeal.  

Changes in the climate and environment are imperiling the mountains glaciers’mass balance - altering landscapes and affecting water sources and other fundamentals of life