Archives for 2021 May-June Issue

A World of Possibilities

A World of Possibilities

May 1, 2021 | by

Australians will tell you that stories about the Outback are more truth than fiction. Hardships come naturally in that part of the country; what you learn about life doesn’t always come from a book. “If you don’t put in the hard yards, you will not get results,” says Kathy Ellem, who grew up in Beechworth, a small town about 175 miles north of Melbourne in the state of North Victoria, where her family owned and operated a 100-acre apple farm. “Sometimes nature or the markets seem to be against us but without that effort in the first place we would
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A Life Fully Lived

A Life Fully Lived

May 1, 2021 | by

P.A. (Peter) Nisbet’s dramatic landscape compositions go beyond mere pictorial renderings to draw viewers in and challenge them to find meaning within their beauty. Each painting represents an individual journey of discovery made by the artist himself. The recording of these personal experiences has become the hallmark of every Nisbet painting; rarely has he depicted a location he has not visited in person. When he puts brush to canvas, what he is sharing is a visual record of his experiences, enriched by sensory perceptions such as the feel of the wind, the sound of a stream, or the fragrance of
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‘I Can’t Turn it Off’

‘I Can’t Turn it Off’

May 1, 2021 | by

For a long time, Bruce Cheever was best known as a landscape painter. His atmospheric, often nostalgic scenes had earned awards, recognition, and a solid following of collectors. Those landscapes are still his recognizable pieces—and landscapes are still his favorite subject to paint. During the past several years, however, he’s been steadfastly broadening his universe to include still lifes, figures, wildlife, and more. “My goal is to be able to sit down and paint any subject with equal confidence,” Cheever says. “I’ve tried to push my boundaries out further so that I feel comfortable tackling any subject. I wanted to
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‘I Found My Passion’

‘I Found My Passion’

May 1, 2021 | by

In September, Sheri Farabaugh hopes to board a plane headed to Russia, where she will join a group of artists who will spend two weeks painting with Eric Rhoads, a plein air painter and publisher of PleinAir magazine. They will visit galleries and art institutes in St. Petersburg, several villages where the Russian Masters painted, and Moscow. Farabaugh hopes that trip will help her to become more proficient at plein air painting. She is brutally honest about her capabilities in that area, saying, “I’m a horrible plein air painter; I’m trying to figure out why that is. Narrowing down my
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Firsthand Experiences

Firsthand Experiences

May 1, 2021 | by

Kelly Dangerfield was 13 years old when he asked his grandmother to give him his first oil painting lesson. While some grandmothers’ houses are filled with the scent of cookies and pictures of cats, his grandmother Arlene’s house was filled with artwork. A hobby painter, she always had her easel set up and landscape paintings on display when her grandson visited. Dangerfield was intrigued. “She bought me a little tabletop easel and told me to look through these old magazines for a picture I thought was cool,” Dangerfield says, adding that he chose a photo of a high mountain lake.
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The Studio of Stefan Savides

The Studio of Stefan Savides

May 1, 2021 | by

Stefan Savides—aka The Bird Man—is as close to heaven on earth as he could be. Living in a home and working in a studio situated on 8 ½ acres in Klamath Falls, Oregon, he is in the midst of what he describes as “one of the most remarkable wild fowl staging areas in the United States.” Why is that important? Because the taxidermist-turned-sculptor has been fascinated by birds for as long as he can remember. “My interest in birds was just there from the beginning,” he says. “No profound experience sparked it; I was born that way.” Read the full
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