Layers deeper than instilling a sense of place, the landscape “suggestions” Jeff Yost paints in oil on canvas quiet the shapes of nature to make way for memories, life-changing moments and invitations to explore myriad feelings of a place in time.

“I rely on the conventions of a landscape and play with those, then relent to the sensations,” he says of his works, where muted washes of tonal color carry an emotional message: come, experience, pour yourself in, and let go.

Yost will display his work at Judson Park’s George A. Streeter Gallery in a show titled Invitations, capturing the purpose of these works, many of which are produced on 12-by-12-inch canvases. Those, he says, “have an intimate invitation aspect.” His larger works sized up to 24-by-48 inches he refers to as “mental resting pieces” that are subtle, contemplative, and more about the viewer’s sensation than a theme or subject, he says.

To accomplish this, Yost quite literally blurs the lines of landscapes, employing transitory light to hush shapes in nature so the focus returns to emotion.

“The vagueness of actual objects and ephemeral quality where it’s hard to make out the subject heightens the senses,” he says of his nocturne pieces, inspired by the renowned late painter, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, known for his after-dark paintings of London.

In the twilight, Yost says, “there is less information,” which turns up the volume on our sensory systems, so we experience works with greater intensity.

Within Yost’s waterfront nocturnal pieces are faint lights that establish depth and distance. “The lights draw you in—and leave you hanging,” he relates.

The idea is to get lost in the moment.

Some works incorporate animals like a fox, though portrayed in a mystic shadowy effect that triggers a viewer’s curiosity and begs for further inspection of the piece—another intentional tool Yost selectively uses in pieces.

Roadways, features like cattails and animals act as lines—punctuation, in a way—prompting viewers to pour deeper into the works. “Those help your eye to travel around what is essentially passages of colors that are evocative of a sensation, memories, passage of time,” he says.

The unexpected confrontation of a single creature faded into the swirl of a landscape shifts the lens. “There is an intimacy there—a weird connection that makes you search harder into the image,” Yost says.

There’s a personal connection reflected in every piece. “The paintings convey emotions in a fleeting moment,” he relates.

Of his process, Yost may pour through photographs taken through the years across the locales and landscapes where he has lived or visited. He reviews previous plein air works and observational on-site paintings. Each has an emotional value, and some beg for consideration based on memories or milestone experiences.

Then, rather than articulating a specific place, he relents to what was “inside” his mind while he was there.

As for the titles, they “come alive because there is that dialogue as they paint—and they spout at some point,” he says. Explore a variety of those at Streeter Gallery and view more of Yost’s work at jeffyostpaintings.com.

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