Posts by Vicki Stavig

Portraits of the West

Portraits of the West

October 9, 2024 | by

The three best gifts you could give to Cindy Long are a pencil, paper, and a man with a weathered old face. Then give her a few weeks to work her magic. The result will be a detailed, black-and-white portrait that will have you studying each line, each shadow, the eyes, the face. It will also have you wondering who he is, what he’s thinking, and what he’s experienced. And that’s exactly what Long wants. “I want to convey the depth and personalities of my people—an emotion, a mood, the story behind the eyes,” she says, adding that the same
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The Romance of the West

The Romance of the West

October 9, 2024 | by

Dakota Pitts is on a self-guided journey that began 11 years ago, when he was 23 and took a life drawing class at City College in Long Beach, California. That journey has taken him around the world and has landed his paintings in some impressive art shows and galleries. Pitts’ love of the outdoors traces back to his childhood. Growing up in Long Beach, he spent most of his time drawing, surfing, and skateboarding. “I just wanted to be outside,” he says, adding that he still does. Following his high school graduation, Pitts moved up the coast to Santa Barbara,
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Following Her Heart

Following Her Heart

August 8, 2024 | by

Don’t try to pidgeon-hole Jennifer Johnson—or her art. Her subjects are varied, but her goal with each is the same: to celebrate the past. She captures nature’s vibrancy with bright, bold colors, pays tribute to the charm of the 1930s and 1940s, and shares her love of wildlife. “All of my paintings have a story from my own experiences, stories told to me by my parents and grandparents and even people I meet at art events who share their adventures,” Johnson says. “When it feels right in a piece, I love to include a touch of whimsy and humor because
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The Studio

The Studio

August 8, 2024 | by

Kyle Polzin’s studio at his home in Austin, Texas, isn’t a grand, architectural space but it suits him just fine. A former study, the room is just off the entryway to the home he shares with his wife Leigh and their two teenage daughters. Surrounded by oak trees, his house sits on one-and-a-half acres of property in a quaint neighborhood that overlooks Austin and the surrounding hill country. Earlier this summer, Polzin was hard at work in his studio, preparing paintings for a show he’ll have in September at Legacy Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The painting resting on
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‘I Love Beauty’

‘I Love Beauty’

June 6, 2024 | by

Larry Riley pulled back a bit from painting a few years ago but he didn’t pull back from creating. During COVID, when galleries were closed, he turned away from his easel and began to make classical guitars. It wasn’t the first time during his 76 years on earth that he veered from the road he was on and let his curiosity lead him. He’s taken chances—and reaped rewards—by mapping his own route. In 1982, after spending nine years taking care of people’s teeth, Riley sold his dentistry practice and turned to fine art. Later, after spending about 40 years as
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‘There’s a Method to My Madness’

‘There’s a Method to My Madness’

June 6, 2024 | by

Fruit, fabric, and flexibility are three key elements in the process watercolorist Chris Krupinski uses as she creates award-winning paintings in the studio at her home in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fruits—everything from Chinese lantern plants and clementines to grapes and pears—are the focal points of her vibrantly colored paintings. Fabric—in the form of quilts—add interesting shapes and shadows, as well as texture that differs from other items in her compositions. Flexibility enters the picture as Krupinski composes her paintings. “I love the flexibility of being able to create my own designs,” she says of the still life paintings that have earned
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Kindred Spirits

Kindred Spirits

April 10, 2024 | by

Matthew Hillier and Julia Rogers have a special connection. They share a love of wildlife, landscapes, and water. They respect each other’s talent and cheer each other on. And, they’re married—to each other. The two met at an art show in Tacoma, Washington, in the 1990s and continued to connect at other shows for a few years before they began long distance dating. At the time, Hillier was living in Florida, and Rogers was living in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. They married in 2001 and lived in a suburb of Washington, D.C. for a time, but Rogers missed living in Chesapeake
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Riding New Waves

Riding New Waves

April 10, 2024 | by

Daniel Keys is successful, inspired—and inspiring. He’s earned prestigious awards for his paintings, which are included in collections throughout the world, and is inspired by the beauty around him. He’s also generous, giving back through two programs he developed to encourage young artists: the Sierra Art Group and the Palette Project. He got the idea for both programs while painting with the late master artist Richard Schmid, who had formed the Putney Painters on the East Coast. “I wanted to replicate that, so I started the Sierra Art Group,” Keys says, adding that the group paints together at A Sense
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A Celebration of Color

A Celebration of Color

February 8, 2024 | by

Erin Hanson has an energy that mirrors the paintings she creates. She shares the story of her life—and her work—and injects both with vibrant colors and textures that have captured the attention of collectors throughout the world. That’s no exaggeration; during the past 15 years she has sold 3,000 original paintings and countless prints. Collectors purchase her paintings as quickly as she completes them. One collector says that, every time he looks at the painting he purchased from Hanson, “it gets more and more beautiful” and that it will be his “get-out-of-husband-jail-for-free-card” for years to come because his wife loves
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Endless Inspiration

Endless Inspiration

February 8, 2024 | by

Jessica L. Bryant is a multi-dimensional woman. She’s an artist, a conservationist, a wife, a mother—and a bagpiper. Yes, you read that correctly. Bryant has been playing bagpipes since she was a teenager growing up in Minnesota and today is the pipe major of a pipe band in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. By the way, she also plays the piano, French horn, and several other instruments. What Bryant is best known for, however, are her watercolor paintings that capture the beauty of landscapes throughout the United States. Her love of the land is deep and goes beyond her art. “Being outside,
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