Archives for Oil

The Nostalgic West

June 9, 2026 | by Mark Wilcox

A trip to the principal’s office in first grade might have been the catalyst that pushed Dennis Ziemienski toward art. When he drew a full wine glass next to a bottle, his principal called his parents in for two reasons: One, he worried Ziemienski might be “imbibing” at home, given the adult subject matter. Two, the principal, who was also an artist, noticed that the child had correctly drawn the top of his wine glass as an ellipse. The kid could already render complex visual perspectives instead of simple outlines. “Let this kid go into art, because he has
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Ink, Oil, and Graphite

June 9, 2026 | by Vicki Stavig

You would think that having parents who are successful artists would naturally set their offspring on a path leading directly to fine art. Not so if that offspring is Maia Chavez Larkin. “I was certain that I would never be an artist, because it seemed like a tough way to make a living,” she says. “I thought it also meant being nervous about finances. It seemed like a hard life and a tough way to make a living. I thought I’d have a real job.” After years of working as an illustrator, four years ago Larkin became what she
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Fresh Mind, Fresh Eyes

June 9, 2026 | by Clover Cameron

You might not recognize Simon Lok’s name, but you have almost certainly seen his work. If you watched any of Disney’s animated feature films in the late 1990s and early 2000s—“Mulan,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” “Brother Bear,” or “The Princess and the Frog” to name just a few—you’re familiar with his use of color, light, and landscape to create a vivid and memorable palette and setting for those films’ characters and their adventures. Lok, who is listed in those films’ credits as Sai Ping Lok, was freshly graduated from art school at California State Long Beach when Disney hired
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The Color Connection

June 9, 2026 | by Vicki Stavig

Once the gate opened, Jessica Garrett-Lawrence ran through it like a wild bronco. Less than a year after she started to paint seriously, galleries began to take on—and sell—her work. One of those galleries was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where almost a dozen of her paintings sold in just six weeks. It’s not surprising that her vibrant landscapes caught the attention of gallery owners and collectors so quickly. Garrett-Lawrence portrays nature in all its glory, from aspen trees, mountains, and streams to sunrises, sunsets, and moonrises. She paints flowers, up close and personal, as well as an occasional still
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The Studio of Susie Hyer

June 9, 2026 | by Mary Nelson

Tucked amid a ponderosa pine forest in Evergreen, Colorado, Susie Hyer’s studio is nestled into the side of one of the forest’s prolific hills. Built next to her house, the 900-square-foot structure, she says, “is large enough to have a square dance in, if I moved everything else out. We built it so that, if we ever sell the property, it could be modified for a mother-in-law apartment, but for now it has no water or bathroom.” Hyer and her husband Jeff built the studio after she outgrew the renovated two-car garage where she had worked. In the past,
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Changing Lanes

April 8, 2026 | by Sara Gilbert Frederick

The last time the Seattle Seahawks played the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, Aaron Hazel had to rethink his whole life. He had built much of his early artistic career painting the Seattle Seahawks. Not only was he painting and selling vignettes from the team’s big wins, but players were commissioning him to paint large portraits and other scenes. In 2014, when the Seahawks trounced the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XL-VIII, Hazel’s work became so in demand that he was able to leave his bartending job and become a full-time artist. But then came Super Bowl
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Riding High

April 8, 2026 | by Mary Nelson

If you’ve ever imagined living on a ranch, riding high in the saddle, herding cattle, and working in nature, you can live that vicariously through the art of Sherry Cobb-Kelleher. “I don’t know if I’m being romantic or what, but I’ve always had such a connection to the land and the animals,” she says. “I want to be able to show that in my artwork so people can see and feel it. I’ve had this connection my whole life. That’s why I paint—to make that connection.” Born into a family of artists, Cobb-Kelleher describes her trajectory to becoming an
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The Studio of Heather Burton & Dave Santillanes

April 8, 2026 | by Joe Tougas

Since meeting in Maui in 2014, artists Dave Santillanes and Heather Burton have been side by side in many ways: dating, marriage, parenting, and living as full-time artists in Colorado. Since September 2025, when they moved from Wellington, Colorado, to Colorado Springs, they have also been side by side when painting in their spacious studio on the main level of their home on the northern part of town near Black Forest. The main-level studio is the first room a visitor sees, and once in the studio, the view is as inspirational as their art. “We look right out at
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The Grand Canyon Master

February 4, 2026 | by Vicki Stavig

It was love at first sight. Curt Walters was 19 when he first laid eyes on the Grand Canyon. “It changed my life,” he says. “There was an intensity to it—the depth, the layers, amazing clouds, and the atmosphere. It was like seeing the whole world at one time. I felt real joy there, and I was determined to paint it.” Today, 57 years later, Walters is still painting it. The Grand Canyon captured his soul and never let go. Several years ago, this magazine referred to him as a master impressionist landscape painter and described him as “the
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Struggle, Hope and Beauty

February 4, 2026 | by Clover Cameron

California-based Chinese-American oil painter Huihan Liu loves the writings of Ernest Hemingway, particularly “The Old Man and the Sea,” so much that many years ago, he made an oil painting inspired by the book. “When I was in graduate school, we had a final project involving literature and painting,” he says. “And one of my paintings was The Old Man and the Sea.” There was something in the story that spoke to him, he says—the difficulty, the struggle, the endurance, the refusal to lose hope even in the face of crushing misfortune. Unlike most of his other paintngs, The
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Archives for Oil

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