Archives for Landscape

The Studio of Luke Frazier

The Studio of Luke Frazier

March 2, 2020 | by

For more than three decades, a working studio located in the serene Cache Valley of northern Utah has provided inspiration for Luke Frazier’s magnificent paintings. It’s a homey space filled with a plethora of items that he knows and loves and that gives visitors the opportunity to know him on a more personal level. “When my wife Angela and I built our home, its design included a great room, which was intended to serve as my studio,” Frazier says. The room’s footprint measures approximately 20’ by 30’, and its 18-foot high ceiling easily accommodates his sculptures as well as large
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It’s A Beautiful Life

It’s A Beautiful Life

March 2, 2020 | by

Shanna Kunz’s landscape paintings tend toward the complex and moody: winding rivers lit by an unseen sun, autumn foliage beneath overcast skies, dark forest-scapes emerging from banks of thick mist. But Kunz herself is pure sunlight, a self-described and unapologetic glass-half-full personality who loves every minute of her creative life and overflows with enthusiasm for the things she loves best: the artist’s life, relationships with family and friends, and the beauty of nature. “I’ve been painting for 26 years now, a long time,” Kunz says. “And I still put a brush in my hand and feel like it’s new. I
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Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland

December 13, 2019 | by

Something magical, almost mystical occurs with a snowfall. It brings with it great joy, which is readily apparent when you watch a young child seeing snow for the first time, or attempting to swallow the flakes as they fall. They also seem compelled to lay down in it, swinging their arms and legs to and fro as they create snow angels. Snow evokes a myriad of emotions. It can carry with it a sense of peace and wellbeing that for some involves sitting inside by a fire and watching the snow gently falling outside. On the other hand, it can
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Joseph Alleman Perfectly Imperfect

Joseph Alleman Perfectly Imperfect

December 12, 2019 | by

There’s only so much time you can spend driving, trying to find that perfect barn,” says Joseph Alleman, whose very livelihood depends on the quality of barns he’s able to locate and depict. Sometimes he renders them in dense, saturated watercolor; more often, he uses oils to achieve the opaque surfaces and clean lines for which he’s known. Driving in search of those barns, Alleman recites the inner monologue that kicks in as the mile markers pass: “I’ve got to get out of the car. I’m wasting too much time. Let’s just stop here and make the best of it.”
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Unique Expressions

Unique Expressions

December 5, 2019 | by

Summers are hot in Texas—and this past summer was one of the worst that Nancy Bush can remember. She was born and raised in the Lone Star State and has lived there almost all of her adult life, so for the most part she’s used to the heat. But this summer, she says, was harder than usual. “It was a brutal summer this year—warmer than past summers,” she says. “But hot is hot, and that’s what we have down here now. Of course, most everyone has air conditioning here, or there would for sure be a massive migration to the
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Letting Fly

Letting Fly

December 5, 2019 | by

There is nothing subtle about an Alan Wolton painting—and that is just as he has planned it. His colors almost sing with energy, causing viewers’ eyes to dance through the painting, pausing here and there before moving on, through and around the light, and savoring every aspect of it. Wolton’s magical paintings have earned him master signature status in the Oil Painters of America (OPA), as well as several awards, including 2017 Sedona Legacy Artist and OPA’s 2014 Distinguished Artist of the Year. While he appreciates the kudos, what really gets his adrenaline going is the act of applying paint
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A Sense of Peace

A Sense of Peace

December 5, 2019 | by

When Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution came to an end in 1976, China began to open its doors to the West. During the following four decades, several well-trained and highly talented artists journeyed across the ocean to America. Landscapist Calvin Liang was among the most gifted of those newcomers. From the time he was old enough to hold a pencil, Liang knew that he wanted to be an artist. Achieving that goal, however, would require patience and determination; it wasn’t until he was almost 40 that his dream became a reality. By the time he was 12, Liang’s career choice seemed
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Essential Elements

Essential Elements

November 14, 2019 | by

“I’m self-taught,” announces Kathryn Stats, painter of sun-washed desert landscapes and vivid still lifes, then quickly adds, “which didn’t mean I didn’t take any lessons; it means I didn’t graduate in anything!” Stats’ artistic journey was unconventional from the start. “I have a great uncle by marriage [LeConte Stewart], who was a fine, fine, well-thought-of artist,” she says. “I rode horses in the summer from morning until night in the same county he lived in. We had his paintings on our walls, and I tended to see landscapes through his eyes. I really think that had an influence.” Initially, that
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The Studio of Peggy Immel

The Studio of Peggy Immel

July 15, 2019 | by

For the past three years, Peggy Immel has been happily painting in a studio south of downtown Taos, New Mexico. Although she says it’s nothing fancy, it certainly meets the needs of the landscape painter, providing her with the space and privacy she needs to create the majestic scenes that have captivated here since she moved to the area 17 years ago. Although Immel spends much of her time painting en plein aire, her studio has everything she needs when she is putting the finishing touches to her work, framing her paintings, or taking care of other business needs that
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Spirit and Splendor

Spirit and Splendor

July 15, 2019 | by

A couple of Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes really speak to oil painter Ron Rencher. One of his favorites is this: “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” Rencher currently is in hot pursuit of the beautiful; he’s in the middle of a move to Taos, New Mexico, a place he once lived and still considers his artistic home. During a visit with him in early May, Rencher said he and his wife Carlene were in the thick of moving-related business: renting the U-Haul, closing on the
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