Whether he’s painting a barn, a building or a landscape, it’s clear that Douglas “Doug” H. Caves Sr.’s work is rooted in his response over time to the architecture, light and multiple vistas in his native state of Massachusetts and other New England places.
His awareness of art and what it can convey began very early when he was still a child. “Even as a kid,” he said, “I had an affinity for nature and art. By the time I was thirteen I knew I wanted to be a painter.”
As a teenager, Caves studied oil painting before expanding his artistic training, studying art history, sculpture and drawing at a community college where he received his first award for a bronze sculpture called “Head of Joy.” Later he pursued additional studies at the Worcester Art Museum, having been inspired by a range of artists including Rembrandt, Claude Monet, Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth and Georgia O’Keeffe. The diversity of those artists speaks to the wide range of his own art works.
Caves then took creative writing classes at Clark University, which he recalled, “deepened my lifelong interest in expression, storytelling, and structure,” all of which he exhibits in his art. Frequent library visits over time to view art books and books about notable artists from different eras heightened his sense of the connection between writing and art, both of which tell stories.