Archives for Oil

The Studio of Giuliana Aubert

The Studio of Giuliana Aubert

June 15, 2019 | by

Giuliana Aubert loves her new studio at her home in Manhattan Beach, California. It’s one of two; the other is at her home in Lake Como, in northern Italy, where she spends four months each year. Two studios? It’s what artists do, she says, adding, “We try to figure out how to have our working space where we live.” Initially, Aubert painted in a bedroom, then graduated to the dining room, and eventually to the great room—where people passing by on the street could watch her at work, which she hated. Later, she work in a public studio that, she
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Beauty in the Imperfect

Beauty in the Imperfect

June 15, 2019 | by

“Imperfect vessels making imperfect vessels,” muses oil painter Jeff Legg, reflecting on his penchant for painting the crooked piece of fruit, the frayed and stained bit of cloth, the weather-beaten copper urn. “The wabi-sabi philosophy, perhaps?” If you talk art with Legg for any length of time, it’s likely that the concept of wabi-sabi will come up in conversation. A Japanese aesthetic that celebrates the flawed, the ephemeral, and the incomplete, wabi-sabi is an ideal framework for contemplating Legg’s subtle, exquisite, still-life oil paintings. In addition to portraying objects that are intriguingly imperfect, each painting depicts something fleeting: the petal
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Wildlife Wonders

Wildlife Wonders

June 15, 2019 | by

For years, wildlife artist William Alther had painted in his spare time, taking brush to canvas on a limited basis. Finally, in 2004, confident that he had refined his skills to a satisfactory level, he decided the time had come to make the transition from his day job with the zoology department of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and begin earning his living as a professional artist. It was a good decision. Within 15 years, galleries in Colorado, Texas, and Wyoming were carrying Alther’s evocative wildlife imagery, and his work was regularly juried into prestigious national exhibitions, including
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Luminescent Landscapes

Luminescent Landscapes

June 15, 2019 | by

As a young mother looking to launch a professional art career in the late 1990s, D. Eleinne Basa did what most people would do: She sought advice from the Internet. “A lot of the advice on the web was the same: Join a local painting group,” she says. “So I looked for a group.” Basa, who was born and raised in the Philippines, had moved to New Jersey with her husband in 1994, so he could pursue a job opportunity. She had studied art since she was a child and always knew that someday she would become an artist. But,
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The Joy of Storytelling

The Joy of Storytelling

June 15, 2019 | by

Nothing gets Morgan Weistling’s adrenalin going like telling a story. And, oh, the stories he tells. Focusing on pioneer life in the late 1800s, Weistling’s epic scenes depict the men, women, and children in everyday situations, as they settled the West. Much like a movie director, he carefully stages his characters in scenes that transport time. Through his skillful use of color and light, he leads viewers from one face to another, from one object to another, encouraging them to stop along the way and savor the story. “I’ve always loved storytellers; I liked art that told stories,” Weistling says,
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Mother Nature’s Majesty

Mother Nature’s Majesty

April 17, 2019 | by

California artist Nancy Davidson says she can describe what inspires her in just one word: light. “It can transform even the most mundane scene into something magical and evocative,” she says. “The potential for beauty is all around us; we just need to recognize it, when it appears.” A self-described nature lover, who is surrounded by the spectacular scenery of Southern California, Davidson says that, “beyond an appreciation of natural beauty, I try to convey a sense of timelessness and wonder. When I am at the beach, watching the waves roll in just as they have since time immemorial, I
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Mother Nature’s Majesty

Mother Nature’s Majesty

April 16, 2019 | by

Colorado artist Jean Perry made her initial entry into fine art with abstract “nonobjective art,” she says, “but there was always a part of me that felt I was missing something by not pursuing traditional art.” Her focus began to change while taking a weeklong workshop conducted by Mel Fillerup, and she went on to enroll in workshops and classes that focused on representational art. “Today it doesn’t matter whether I am standing on the side of a hill in Portugal or by a stream in Colorado, there is always a certain excitement about painting landscapes on location,” Perry says.
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The Studio of Paula Holtzclaw

The Studio of Paula Holtzclaw

April 15, 2019 | by

Five days a week, Paula Holtzclaw takes a seat at her easel and paints on location. Her setting is an idyllic one in the North Carolina countryside, about 20 miles south of Charlotte, a place of lush gardens and slow-moving clouds, and verdant farmland. She paints there at all times of the day, but she particularly loves the dusk, when the light falls and the colors deepen. Where is this magical place? It’s in Holtzclaw’s house; it’s her studio. Although she has been in her current studio for well over a decade now, she still speaks of it with gratitude
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Mother Nature’s Majesty

Mother Nature’s Majesty

April 15, 2019 | by

“There is so much in the wilderness that is relative to life. It’s hard, messy, and wondrous, but strangely there is a perfect order to it all. Whether I am on the middle of a lake, floating down the river, climbing a mountain, or simply sitting on my front porch, reveling under the big sky, it all makes me think deeply. I find purpose and passion in the landscape; it is inherently who I am.” So says Montana artist Brooke Wetzel, who adds that she and her family “live where the winters are hard, but the inspiration is endless. The
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Mother Nature’s Majesty

Mother Nature’s Majesty

April 15, 2019 | by

W. Jason Situ was born in Kaiping, China, where he was faced with the changes and challenges brought about by the country’s cultural revolution under Mao Tse Tung. His interest in art took hold, as he copied propaganda and slogan banners, before connecting with Szeto Lapa, who introduced him to plein air painting and, later, with Mian Situ, who became his mentor. Eventually, Situ was able to study at the Guanzhou Academy of Fine Arts, where his style evolved into impressionistic realism. Fast forward to 1989. Situ left China and immigrated with his wife Lisa and their two children to
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