Archives for Landscape

Poetic Landscapes

Poetic Landscapes

August 7, 2025 | by

  June Dudley’s vibrant paintings capture a moment in time, an emotion, a ghost of memory. Combined with dynamic lighting and design, her attunement with color creates a mood that is sometimes whimsical, sometimes majestic, but is always inviting and approachable. “One of my collectors told me, ‘I have not seen anyone painting in the vivid and vibrant colors and detail you do, and at the same time being able to capture and convey such powerful moods,’” Dudley says. “That pretty well sums up my goal in art.” The Texas artist has always had one goal: painting. Life doesn’t always
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The Excitement of Plein Air Painting

The Excitement of Plein Air Painting

August 7, 2025 | by

  “I look at the world as color notes.” So says Michele Usibelli, and to realize the truth of that statement, all you have to do is look at one of her paintings. Splashes of color and bursts of light jump off the canvas, almost daring you to look away. You can’t do it, however; her brushstrokes sweep you into and around the painting, creating a visual journey that you don’t want to end. Usibelli’s own journey began when she was a young girl growing up in Seattle, Washington. By the time she was in second grade she knew what
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Guiding Light

Guiding Light

June 5, 2025 | by

Jim Wodark is inspired by light. His vibrant paintings are studies in divergent values and hues, and he isn’t afraid to experiment to get what he’s after. Of course, it isn’t possible to paint only light, so he allows the contrast and brilliance—or lack of color and shadow—to guide how he uses light to make his paintings come alive. “Light is a huge part of my painting process,” he says. Wodark creates his subjects with contrasting soft and hard edges that focus on the darks, lights, and values to draw in the viewer. Using a dark value against a light
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Driven by Intuition

Driven by Intuition

June 5, 2025 | by

People, places, and painting—those are the things Robert Goldman loves. His award-winning, nuanced landscapes not only capture light and color, they have captured the attention of a growing roster of collectors throughout the world. Goldman’s life is punctuated with drawing classes, degrees, studies with other artists, and participation in critique groups as he challenges himself to develop new skills and new ways of seeing. He seeks out the opinions of others and pays attention to their advice. And he credits much of his success to the teachers and artists who have influenced him along the way. In the early ‘80s,
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Plein Air Ambassador

Plein Air Ambassador

April 7, 2025 | by

Colorado Springs-based oil painter Kathleen Hudson’s hands are full. She has a thriving art career with a shelf of awards and a loyal following of collectors to show for it. She’s a mother of four children and takes joy in introducing them to the natural wonders that inspire her work. She’s also an avid traveler, continually on the lookout for new seas, skies, and mountains to depict in her epic landscape paintings. Hudson’s love for exploration is woven into both her personal life and her artistic vision. In college, she led backpacking trips through the White Mountains of New Hampshire,
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Dogs, Landscapes, and More

Dogs, Landscapes, and More

April 7, 2025 | by

Every now and then, James Swanson, who lives in LaGrange Park, Illinois, likes to spend time at a lake near his cottage in Michigan. He takes his two dogs—Bjorn, an English cream golden retriever, and Fenrir, a golden retriever—with him and throws tennis balls for them to chase. For them, it’s purely fun. For Swanson, however, it’s all work. Every time he throws the ball, he aims it in a different direction or to a different depth. He throws it from the dock. Sometimes, he gets into the water himself. He does whatever it takes to to get a new
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Electric Americana

Electric Americana

April 7, 2025 | by

Colt Idol is hard at work in the studio at his home in Whitefish, Montana. That’s not surprising, but what is surprising is that he’s surrounded by 21 paintings on the floor and hanging on the walls in a U-shape around him. “Right now, I have 21 pieces in the works,” he says. “Some artists work in a more linear fashion, but I like to spend about three hours on a piece and then go on to another. I work on four or five pieces each day; it helps me get a stronger end piece by spending time with it.
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‘I Believe in Callings’

‘I Believe in Callings’

February 7, 2025 | by

Lying on her back, flat on the ground, watching the clouds’ antics for hours. Running barefoot through the woods, dog beside her, throwing her head back and embracing the sun with arms and laughter. Moving from full throttle to dead stop in an instant, captured by the beauty of a tree. Creeping up on a view as if trying not to scare it away, hoping to snapshot the perfect ray of light in the camera of her mind’s eye. These are some of the earliest memories of landscape artist Romona Youngquist. They are also some of her most recent memories
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Spiritual Experiences

Spiritual Experiences

February 7, 2025 | by

When Randy Van Beek sees a landscape that he wants to paint, he grabs his camera and his outdoor painting kit. He then alternates between painting a small study that captures the light, colors, and emotions of the place and looking through the lens of his camera to compose the scene. “The adrenaline just starts rushing through me when I look through the camera lens,” he says. “With your eyes, you’re taking too much in, and there’s no way to communicate all of it. But with the camera, I find the little slices that are the most interesting. It’s all
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A Grand Affair

A Grand Affair

December 13, 2024 | by

Twenty-two years ago, while driving from a workshop in Wyoming to her home in California, Amery Bohling took a detour and stopped at the Grand Canyon. She had visited the natural wonder when she was 12, and wanted to revisit it as an adult. That spur-of-the-moment decision was to have a major impact on Bohling and her art. It was October, a busy time at the canyon, but she was able to get a room at the lodge on the North Rim for one night—the last night of the season. She spent the day, taking photos and sitting on the
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