Archives for Oil

A Promise Kept

A Promise Kept

November 1, 2021 | by

During his 16 years of formal art training, Valeriy Kagounkin has studied everything from painting and sculpture to Italian fresco, mosaic, and stained glass. While he now focuses on capturing the American West on canvas, he also feels a duty to serve the community with his other skills. One of Kagounkin’s most recent projects—painting a mural on an eight-story building—has seen him perched atop a lift in 90-degree temperatures, breathing in smoke-filled air from the wildfires raging near his home in Sacramento, California. “It is what it is,” he says. “This is real artwork.” Except for a few difficult times,
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Patience and Precision

Patience and Precision

November 1, 2021 | by

Randal M. Dutra has enjoyed a varied career in art for more than 46 years. He began his studies in 1975, working from life at a Canadian game farm, and in 1977 he enrolled at the Art Students League in New York. During his early art career, he also learned from several respected mentors, including Clarence Tillenius, Robert Lougheed, and George Carlson. In 1981, Dutra became involved in cinematic visual effects. During his 25 years in the movie business, while concurrently producing fine art, he worked with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Disney on several films, two of which earned
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Discipline, Control, and Wisdom

Discipline, Control, and Wisdom

November 1, 2021 | by

If you log onto Rick McClure’s Facebook page, you might think for a minute that you’ve wandered into an online Buddhism class where the teacher has become the student, asking his former pupils to critique his teaching skills. “Generous and sincere,” offered one. Another responded, “Doesn’t hesitate to share all the tips and techniques he’s spent a long career learning.” And a third asked, “Is this a trick question?” Not necessarily. Art professionals will tell you that great art teachers share many characteristics, including passion, dedication, and perseverance. Being a great artist and a great teacher are not mutually exclusive;
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‘Color is Everything To Me’

‘Color is Everything To Me’

November 1, 2021 | by

In early August, Kathy Anderson was hard at work in the studio at her home in Redding, Connecticut. She had just returned from a 12-day reunion in Montana with members of the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters and was preparing to head to Vermont the following week to paint with the Putney Painters. Anderson was also working on a painting for a show in October and that afternoon was scheduled to give a video tour of her studio for the Scottsdale Artists School. Later that week she would be serving as an awards judge for a local art show. And,
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Chasing Perfection

Chasing Perfection

November 1, 2021 | by

There are things you have to give up if you’re going to run a ranch, raise a family, and pursue a career as a wildlife artist all at the same time. Chad Poppleton, who took over the operations of his dad’s ranch in northern Utah’s Cache Valley a year ago, is doing all three—and doing them well. Most days, he’s up early to do chores and get work done around the ranch. Once those jobs are done, he heads to his studio and paints for several hours. Then he loops back to the ranch for more chores and to wrap
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The Studio of Edward Aldrich

The Studio of Edward Aldrich

November 1, 2021 | by

After getting married in 2002 wildlife artist Edward (Ned) Aldrich and his wife Kerry set up housekeeping in Golden, Colorado. Within three years, however, they realized they wanted more land, so they moved to a home on a mountainside just west of Denver. The downside of their new home was that its configuration did not allow room for a studio. Aldrich spent the first two years there working in a basement studio, then decided to add additional space to the top of the house. “Working there really spurred me on to get the addition finished,” he says of his basement
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The Studio of Quang Ho

The Studio of Quang Ho

September 1, 2021 | by

While the United States has been blessed with a multitude of native-born painters, its art heritage has also been greatly enriched by the work of many foreign-born artists, from Nicolai Fechin and John Singer Sargent to Zhiwei Tu and Mian Situ. Another name on the list of foreignborn artists who are sharing their cultural heritage with American art collectors is Quang Ho, who was born in Vietnam and is creating some of the most sought-after works in today’s market. Born in 1963, in Hue, Vietnam, Ho was 12 when he came to the United States with his mother and seven
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A Never-Quit Mentality

A Never-Quit Mentality

September 1, 2021 | by

It was a long Sunday afternoon for Todd Connor early this summer as he was filling packing boxes for a move from McAllister to Fort Benton, Montana, just northeast of Great Falls. But the day was filled with pleasant surprises. While cleaning out his studio, he discovered hundreds of small canvases, all plein air paintings. “I don’t get to do plein air much anymore,” he says wistfully. Don’t think for a minute that Connor sees his sun-swept portraits of pioneers, landscapes, and First Nation warriors as uninspired, 9-to- 5 studio work, however. Art is his challenge, second only to the
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Capturing the Cowboy Culture

Capturing the Cowboy Culture

September 1, 2021 | by

Tyler Crow was a high school senior when the trajectory of his life was forever changed. His plan following his graduation was to go on to college, earn a degree in agricultural or ranch management, and “run my own cows.” Those plans changed when he entered a pencil drawing in a competition sponsored by the Oklahoma Youth Expo and won a scholarship for a workshop conducted by award-winning Western artists Bruce Greene and Martin Grelle, who also happened to be members of the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America (CAA). Within a couple months, Crow was studying with the two artists
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Talent Knows No Age

Talent Knows No Age

July 1, 2021 | by

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
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