Archives for Oil

The Studio of Sonya Terpening

The Studio of Sonya Terpening

March 19, 2016 | by

For want of a door to close, Sonya Terpening’s studio was born. Really. How would you feel if you left work at night and your work stood outside your kitchen begging you to return, demanding your undivided attention? That is pretty much the experience Terpening had until a little more than a year ago when her work life changed for the better. Terpening is excited about her new studio, having recently taken over the master bedroom on the second floor in the Grapevine, Texas, home she has shared with her husband Mark for 28 years. In many respects, Terpening believes
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An Exciting Adventure

An Exciting Adventure

January 19, 2016 | by

Last fall was an especially memorable time for Logan Maxwell Hagege, whose surname hints at his French ancestry. He married Misty Zollars, who owns a denim company that makes women’s jeans. And he earned the Best of Show Purchase Award at the 2015 Quest for the West Exhibition at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. His colorful Native American image, Land With No Time, is now included in the museum’s permanent collection. Hagege also is a regular participant in the Masters of the American West exhibition at the Autry National Center for the American
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Answering the Call of the Open Road

Answering the Call of the Open Road

January 19, 2016 | by

“As a landscape painter, you want to kind of get your arms around the planet.” So says Andrew Peters, who has made a valiant attempt to do just that, traveling far and wide to see and capture magnificent and varied landscapes. When he was just 25—three years after winning the Iowa Duck Stamp Competition—he packed up and headed to Africa, where he spent a year painting game animals and indigenous peoples. He’s also painted throughout North and South America, as well as in Romania, Morocco, Spain, Italy, France and Ireland and has plans to visit and paint in Slovenia. And
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Ah, Sweet Success

Ah, Sweet Success

January 19, 2016 | by

When Gladys Roldan-de-Moras’ husband Rafael couldn’t attend the 2015 Qwest for the West Show with her, she invited her sister to join her. It was Roldan-de-Moras’ first showing at the prestigious event at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana, and she was in awe of the other artists and their work. At the awards ceremony, she leaned over to her sister and said she could never get up on stage to accept an award and then have to say a few words to the crowd. Turning back toward the presentation, Roldan-de-Moras was shocked to
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Up Close and Personal

Up Close and Personal

January 19, 2016 | by

In an ideal world, Bonnie Marris would get out for a long horseback ride every day. Especially in the fall, when the trees around her northern Michigan home transition to brilliant yellow and reds, she would love to settle in for a daily ride. But it doesn’t always work out that way. “I would feel too guilty,” Marris says, “because of the dogs. It’s too hard to bring them with, and I can’t seem to do much without them. I don’t know who has more separation anxiety—them, or me.” That connection to her animals—she and her husband, landscape artist Woody
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Letting in the Light

Letting in the Light

January 19, 2016 | by

Throughout her life, voices have spoken to J. Peralta, acknowledging her talent and urging her to create art. Fortunately, she paid them the attention they deserved and, in doing so, changed the course of her life. The first was the voice of her kindergarten teacher who, after taking note of Peralta’s incredibly detailed drawings, announced to Peralta’s mother, “She will be an artist.” The next would come many years later and would provide the encouragement Peralta needed to pursue art and, in the process, to share with the world paintings that showcase her brilliant use of color and light. “It
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Seasons of Change

Seasons of Change

January 19, 2016 | by

Landscape artist Carole Cooke is pushing a deadline—and she’s pushing her envelope. Sometimes you need to take a good look around and change course. After all, life is change. A major change for Cooke came about 11 years ago when, as a fledging artist, relatively speaking, she was accepted into the Masters of the American West Art Show at the Autry National Center of the American West in Los Angeles, California. “I really wanted to get into that show, because I knew it would be a turning point for my career, and it really was,” she says. “John Geraghty [a
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It’s About the Light

It’s About the Light

November 20, 2015 | by

Nancy Bush noticed something recently, when she was looking at her website. Scrolling back to look at some of the older paintings shown there, she realized a difference between then and now. “I could see a progression,” Bush says. “I could tell that I am expressing myself in a more advanced way now than I was then. There’s a softening of my technical side, and more of my internal thoughts and feelings are coming through.” It’s been 30 years since Bush gave up her corporate job and launched a career as an artist.. She’s grown from a fledgling artist studying
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A Penchant For the Past

A Penchant For the Past

November 20, 2015 | by

Known for evocative historical paintings that depict the lives of the Eastern Woodland Indians and non-native settlers, who lived in the region surrounding his home in Western Pennsylvania during the 18th century, John Buxton, like several successful fine artists, began his career as a commercial illustrator. Determined to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a professional artist, in 1959 Buxton journeyed west to begin formal art studies at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California. Getting his priorities straight a few years later, Buxton returned to his studies and earned his Professional Arts Degree in 1962, which
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I’m Never Bored

I’m Never Bored

November 20, 2015 | by

A drive to yoga class about 10 years ago provided an aha moment for Teresa Elliott. As she drove by a pasture of longhorns, she was so taken by what she saw that she returned the next day and took photographs of them. “There was a bull there,” she says. “It was hot, and he was miserable and stomping his feet. I took a snapshot and went back home and that was my first painting.” Little did Elliott realize how popular her longhorn portraits would become, how eagerly collectors would seek them out. She painted them because she loved them
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