Archives for Oil

Talent Knows No Age

July 1, 2021 | by Vicki Stavig

In 2004, after 30 years in the car business, John Marzolf sold his three dealerships and retired. Two years later, however, he was bored and looking for something to do. “I loved art, and I collected art,” he says, “so I decided to buy and sell art.” While visiting the Biltmore Galleries in Scottsdale, Arizona, Marzolf purchased a Frank Tenney Johnson painting for $275,000 and met the gallery’s owner, Steve Rose. “I liked Rose,” Marzolf says, adding that three times he asked Rose to sell the gallery to him. “The fourth time I said, ‘Why don’t you sell it to
Read More

Living Her Dream

July 1, 2021 | by Clover Neiberg

If you are considering taking up painting, Dallas-based oil painter Susan Temple Neumann has three words for you, delivered in a soft Texas drawl: “Go for it.” Maybe you think you’re too old, too established in your current career, too untrained, or lacking in the necessary workspace and supplies. In that case, Neumann has two more words for you: “No excuses.” She considers her own story proof that anyone with some talent and drive can at least have a go at being an artist. “I was in my fifties before I even thought about going down this path,” says Neumann,
Read More

‘I’m Super Excited’

July 1, 2021 | by Myrna Zanetell

Arizona oil painter Chauncey Homer entered the arena as a professional artist less than two decades ago, but his work has already garnered a strong collector base. His paintings are eagerly sought after and hang in prestigious galleries alongside compositions by masters of the Western genre such as Howard Terpning, Roy Anderson, Robert Shufelt, and R. S. Riddick. The popularity of Homer’s work is due to a combination of his artistic skill and his broad repertoire of subject matter. “I have tried to limit what I paint to five things that I personally love to look at: kids; beautiful women
Read More

A Double Dose of Magic

July 1, 2021 | by Sara Gilbert Frederick

For four and a half years, Bonnie Conrad had to take a break from painting. She was recovering from an illness that sapped her of her strength and then, as she felt better, she and her husband were building a new home in Mendon, Utah. She painted whenever she could and whenever she was preparing for a show. By January 2020, Conrad was feeling more like herself again, so she started painting more often. And that’s when something magical happened. Read the full article in the July/August 2021 issue. Son Kissed Oil 24” by 30” “This work is about the
Read More

The Studio of Robert Moore

July 1, 2021 | by Robyne Robinson

When Robert Moore tells you he’s headed to his studio, erase all ideas you might have of an artist painting in a small, dark room in a cold, brick building. Moore’s studio is the first thing you see when you head into town, past the ‘welcome’ sign. It’s a massive, 10,000-square-foot warehouse, right in the center of downtown Declo, Idaho—population 526. “I painted in barns, garages, and churches before it,” says the 63-year-old impressionist. “There’s something special about this location.” Read the full article in the July/August 2021 issue. Well With My Soul Oil 70” by 96” Winter Oil
Read More

A World of Possibilities

May 1, 2021 | by Robyne Robinson

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
Read More

A Life Fully Lived

May 1, 2021 | by Myrna Zanetell

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
Read More

‘I Can’t Turn it Off’

May 1, 2021 | by Sara Gilbert Frederick

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
Read More

‘I Found My Passion’

May 1, 2021 | by Vicki Stavig

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
Read More

Firsthand Experiences

May 1, 2021 | by Brandon Rosas

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.
Read More