Archives for Oil

Art and Authenticity

Art and Authenticity

May 4, 2023 | by

In the action, beauty, frailty, or majesty, Jim Bortz infuses into his oil paintings a quality that results in sunlight landing perfectly, flowing river waters the viewer can almost hear, and animals that are more than reproductions. That quality stems from his immersion into the wild outside his home in Cody, Wyoming. Bortz spends countless hours hunting, hiking, and taking photos that provide critical references for his work. “I spend a ton of time in the field,” he says. “I study the animals I put in my paintings. I want to know their biology; I want to know their habits,
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Cowboy Storyteller

Cowboy Storyteller

May 4, 2023 | by

“When I was 14 or 15, my school offered an on-location drawing class in the summer,” says Arizona-based artist Steve Atkinson. “I’d get up early in the morning and go down to Yellow Creek with my little sketch pad and transistor radio, and I can remember just thinking to myself, ‘If I could do this for a living, it would be Heaven,'” he recalls of that class. If the teenage Atkinson could see himself now, he would likely agree that his life has been Heaven. His paintings have earned him many honors, the latest being the People’s Choice Award at
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The Magic Continues

The Magic Continues

May 4, 2023 | by

Most people probably know Arturo Chávez as an award-winning painter who masterfully captures the colors and shapes of Western landscapes. But there is more to this talented man—so much more. He is also a classical guitarist, a former pilot, a championship tango dancer, and a licensed commercial drone flyer. It is his love of painting, however, that drives him. “I’ve been pushing paint for 40 years,” Chávez says. “My landscapes come from my heart. It’s my creativity. I’ve created more than 6,000 paintings. There’s a chain from my ankle to my easel.” Of course, he’s speaking metaphorically; he is as
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Style Change

Style Change

March 4, 2023 | by

It all started in September 2021, when Western artist Sonya Terpening was honored as a distinguished alumni at an Oklahoma State University (OSU) football game. When her name and image were flashed on the jumbotron at halftime, another alumni and major supporter OSU, recognized her and realized he had purchased one of her works several years earlier. He decided to do some research into her art career. At the time, Terpening was in the third major evolution of her style. After earning an art degree from OSU, she had begun her career as a Western watercolor artist and had achieved
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‘I’m Inspired by God’s Creation’

‘I’m Inspired by God’s Creation’

March 4, 2023 | by

“I have to paint my vision.” So says Frank Ordaz, whose visions range from portraits and landscapes to cowboys and old trucks. He is so eclectic in his subject matter and style that a gallery owner once told him, “I don’t know where to put you; I don’t know how to sell you.” That gallery owner needn’t have worried because his paintings sell themselves, appealing to a similarly eclectic group of collectors. Simply put, Ordaz’s paintings cannot be labeled—and neither can he. Although he was trained as a fine artist when he was a young boy, Ordaz spent his early
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Beauty is the Goal

Beauty is the Goal

March 4, 2023 | by

“The most consistent source of my inspiration will always be nature.” So says Aaron Blaise, who spent most of his career as an animator for Walt Disney Feature Animation before turning to fine art and capturing everything from small birds and big cats to elephants and moose in a beautifully realistic style. “The natural world, for me, is an escape,” he says. “It’s a source of wonder and, ultimately, my greatest inspiration for all of the work I do, whether it be painting, drawing, or animation. The creatures we share our planet with are so diverse and beautiful and such
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Beautifully Authentic

Beautifully Authentic

March 4, 2023 | by

Monte Moore describes his art career as a large tree. After so many years as an illustrator—and so much more—he says, “I started growing another branch.” That new branch is his career as a fine artist who captures the people and wildlife of the West in a myriad of mediums, including acrylics, pencils, oils, bronze, and mixed media. The Colorado artist, who was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1971, considers himself blessed to have had parents who encouraged him and instilled in him a love of art, particularly Western art. A year after Moore was born, his father bought a
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‘I Will Always Have My Art’

‘I Will Always Have My Art’

March 4, 2023 | by

If you walked into a particular Coeur D’Alene office building at 4 a.m., you would find Western artist Tobias “Toby” Sauer already hard at work. He faces an easel, surrounded by beaded moccasins, feathered headdresses, and a bear claw necklace that hang from the walls. Sauer began to make his own Native American accoutrements in late 2020 in order to correct inaccuracies he saw at reference photo shoots. “They would have women’s clothes on a man—and artists would paint it,” says Sauer, who conducts extensive research to ensure his creations are faithful to the cultures he depicts in his paintings.
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Tuning In

Tuning In

March 3, 2023 | by

Oil painter Kimberly Beck kicks off most workdays with a three-mile walk. “There’s a reservoir near our house and, if I get up early, I can get there and back and still get to work on time,” she says. “You see all kinds of birds there. You start to learn the regulars of the neighborhood. “Last summer, I caught Cooper’s hawks mating. The female was gathering all these twigs, and I figured out where the nest was. For the rest of the spring, I was able to observe the nest, until the male started charging me. I think he literally
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The Studio of Mark Maggiori

The Studio of Mark Maggiori

March 3, 2023 | by

During the past two years, Mark Maggiori has found himself setting up his studio in two different garages. One is the studio of his dreams, located in Taos, New Mexico, and renovated to meet his exact specifications. The other is a more temporary arrangement, with his workspace nestled into a garage in Los Angeles, California. While both have been productive places for Maggiori to work on paintings for his upcoming one-man show at Legacy Gallery, it’s the Taos studio he wants to talk about. He, his wife Petecia, and his daughter Wilderness moved to Taos in 2020. They had found
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