Archives for Oil

Following His Dream

Following His Dream

September 22, 2014 | by

In early July, recently returned from a trip to Alaska, Daniel Keys is happily painting back home near Fresno, California. Although he enjoyed the experience, which included giving painting demonstrations for an art group on a cruise and being exposed to the majesty of Alaska, Keys says he was a little homesick and “more than ready to see something other than glorious mountains; I think I’m a city boy at heart.” No matter where this talented young artist is, he is creating magnificent paintings that are infused will brilliant colors and light. Daniel Keys Roses & Lilies Oil 12″ x
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Relationships Are Key

Relationships Are Key

September 22, 2014 | by

After running a successful veterinary practice in Pennsylvania for 20 years, John Fawcett decided to cash it in and forge a new career as a fine artist. It was not a decision he made lightly, however. After all, his first love has always been animals (he bought his first horse at age 10), and leaving his practice behind hadn’t even been a consideration, until he and his wife Elizabeth happened on a Western art show in Arizona. John Fawcett Savvy Watercolor 23″ x 14″ “During gatherings and brandings, it is essential for cowboys to have a good horse that knows
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Nature’s Impact

Nature’s Impact

September 22, 2014 | by

A paintbrush or lump of clay in the hands of Arizona artist Ed Mell becomes transcendent. What his eyes see often becomes transformed at his hand. Puffy clouds, muted purple mountains framed by a peach halo, as the sun slips behind them, become infused with vibrant, electric energy. Forms and colors take on dazzling, brilliant hues and shades. Edges—exact and angular—are honed to razor sharpness. Colors pop. Small plants become omnipresent with captivating clarity, while their surroundings recede. Ed Mell Vast Expanse Oil 30″ x 60″ “I was trying to convey the power and overall glow of sunset on the
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Larger Than Life

Larger Than Life

July 22, 2014 | by

Like no other artist, German-born painter Albert Bierstadt portrayed the unspoiled grandeur of the 19th-century American West. He was known for large canvases, heavy luminosity, towering trees, and gargantuan mountains, while humans and horses were made to look even tinier in comparison. Bierstadt was not the first artist to depict the American West, but the vivid intensity of his work made him, for some time, the preeminent artist of the Western genre. Albert Bierstadt Indians Spear Fishing Oil 19.25″ x 29.25″ Albert Bierstadt Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains Oil 72″ by 120″
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Answering the Call

Answering the Call

July 22, 2014 | by

You could say that William Alther’s journey to becoming a professional artist was the result of his answering the call of the wild. Although the Colorado-based painter has been fascinated by God’s wild creatures from early childhood, time and other career commitments would intervene before he eventually turned to paint and canvas to bring them to life. Despite making a commitment to art less than a decade ago, the 55-year-old artist says it has always played a significant role in his life. William Alther Crafty One Oil 16″ by 18″ “Red foxes surely have to be high on the all-time
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Incurable Glory

Incurable Glory

July 22, 2014 | by

“I belong outdoors. I love painting on location, and I love the beauty and peace that comes with standing before Mother Nature and reacting to her incurable glory.” That, says Kim Lordier, is why she paints landscapes. And she does so beautifully, whether capturing scenes near her home in California, or packing up her pastels and heading to locations in other states. “California is rich in landscape—mountains, desert dynamic coastal range, and everything in between,” she says. Kim Lordier Winter’s Tapestry Pastel 36″ by 24″ “A kaleidoscope of color and pattern . . . chaotic organization . . . dark
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The Softer Side of the West

The Softer Side of the West

July 22, 2014 | by

Spring in the Midwest can be a fickle. One it’s day warm, the next day cold, the next day a blanket of snow settles on the daffodils. Snow is exactly what thwarted a painting trip Montana artist Loren Entz had planned with Alise, his 6-year-old granddaughter, last April. On his way to Kansas, via Omaha, Nebraska, he had stopped to visit his daughter, Rebecca, and was planning to take Alise plein air painting, after hearing a comment she had made not long before. Standing before her mother, Alise had announced, “I don’t know if I want to be a mommy
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Digging Deep

Digging Deep

July 22, 2014 | by

“There are three components to my work. The empirical—what I observe when painting outside. The rational—what I know about the landscape. And the spiritual—how I feel about the subject, my emotional response to it.” So says Joseph McGurl, whose landscape paintings have earned him numerous awards, as well as recognition as one of the country’s most gifted contemporary artists. The fact that he became an artist and that his chosen subjects are the land and sea is no surprise. Born and raised outside Boston, Massachusetts, he spent much of his time on the water. Joseph McGurl Last Light of Winter
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I Have Enjoyed Every Minute

I Have Enjoyed Every Minute

May 22, 2014 | by

John Moyers says he is a lucky man. As a young boy, he was surrounded by art and art supplies, thanks to his father, award-winning artist William Moyers. As a teenager, he was mentored by distinguished painter, Robert Lougheed. And, as an adult he met and married his soul mate and fellow artist, Terri Kelly, and the two have happily traveled the world, painting as they go. He is modest about his accomplishments, grateful for the opportunity to spend his life doing what he loves, and excited about the future. John Moyers Return From Blue Lake Oil 30˝ by 48˝
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‘I’m Doing What I Love’

‘I’m Doing What I Love’

May 22, 2014 | by

In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Polonius counsels his son Laertes, “To thine own self be true,” offering a sage bit of wisdom that remains relevant four centuries later. In the case of Montana-based landscapist Greg Scheibel, defining and responding to his deep inner “self” became an evolutionary process that required more than two decades to come to fruition. Although Scheibel was born in Minnesota, the 53-year-old artist has been a Montana resident since he was 12, when his father, a contractor, relocated the family to Bozeman in order help build the Big Sky ski area. “As a hockey player on our local
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