Archives for Landscape

Infusions of Light

Infusions of Light

July 15, 2018 | by

Long before he became an artist, Jim Wilcox juggled three loves: product design, architecture, and painting. Because his high school didn’t have an art program, he funneled his creative energy into drawing horses and later competing in the Model Car Competition. He won third place in the auto design competition, which challenged boys to create the car of the future. “I did that for two years—1959 and 1960—and won the smallest award you could win, which was third place in Colorado, where I lived at the time,” he says, adding with a chuckle that there were probably only three contestants
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Abstract Impressionism

Abstract Impressionism

May 15, 2018 | by

Perched atop the corrals or catwalks above rodeos, artist Howard Post gets a view that rouses his muse. The patterns of cattle huddled together in the corral, or the linear outline of the fences create a vision that spawns his artistic vision and are a strong focus in the Arizona artist’s paintings. Post, once an avid rodeo participant himself, discovered this birds-eye perspective by accident. To get a better look, he clambered up above the activity and discovered patterns and light that hadn’t been evident from his ground-level participation. The new perspective set his contemporary paintings of cattle, cowboys, rodeo
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The Studio of Debra Joy Groesser

The Studio of Debra Joy Groesser

March 15, 2018 | by

Reflecting on how quickly time passes, Nebraska-based plein air painter Debra Joy Groesser is a bit amazed to realize that she celebrated her studio’s 20 th anniversary in December 2017. Her studio and her home are located in Ralston, a one-square mile incorporated town with a population of approximately 6,800 near Omaha that her husband Don has served as mayor for the past 21 years. The upper level of the building, which encompasses approximately 700 square feet, houses Groesser’s studio, framing area, and a small office. It includes four north-facing windows and two more on the east wall that provide
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‘Celebrating God’s Creation’

‘Celebrating God’s Creation’

March 15, 2018 | by

We’re surrounded by it, and yet we don’t see it—the brilliant colors of leaves in the fall, the magnificent glow of a sunset, the snowy banks along a creek. We know it’s there, but we take it for granted, as we go about our busy lives. And we feel it—sun shining on our faces, wind blowing through our hair, crashing waves sending a misty bouquet of shimmering water through the air. Mother Nature beckons us to enjoy and appreciate the wonders she has to offer, but all too often we ignore those offerings, as we go about our busy lives.
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The Studio of Kim Lordier

The Studio of Kim Lordier

January 15, 2018 | by

Until 2004, Kim Lordier created her brilliant paintings in a small bedroom at her home in Millbrae, California, just outside San Francisco. Today, she is happily at work in a structure that is separate from the house but is connected to it by a deck that features a myriad of colorful, potted flowers. The studio—which she refers to alternately as her “man cave” and “the shed”—suits her needs perfectly, offering a quiet, private space in which to work on the landscape paintings that have earned her a host of awards. Lordier has spent her entire life in California; in fact,
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‘Let There Be Light—and Color’

‘Let There Be Light—and Color’

January 15, 2018 | by

“Color and light are everything in a painting.” So says Tom Murray, whose paintings are proof of his belief in that statement. They are alive with color, whether he is depicting sundown over a canyon, spring in the desert, or the majesty of the Grand Canyon. Viewers are immediately drawn to the vibrancy of his work—red clouds, purple mountains, the explosion of color that is both exciting and mesmerizing. It’s no surprise that Murray’s paintings have captured the attention—and enthusiasm—of collectors throughout the country, who eagerly await each new work. Tom Murray Maricopa Point Vision Oil 64″x48″ “The majestic Grand
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Perfect Pitch

Perfect Pitch

January 15, 2018 | by

The thing about Gene Speck’s art is that, although it’s been dubbed realism, it goes beyond photorealism; it becomes your reality. Once you see one of his paintings, you aren’t just looking at a picture; you’re in another time and space. Speck’s heart and aesthetic nature is inured in a simpler time, when fewer people roamed the earth and had the space to do so. As a result, his paintings reach out and touch the viewer with palpable beauty and reality that in our hurried and fragmented lives seem to be long lost. Speck’s ability to immerse himself in his
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Western Voices: Past and Present

Western Voices: Past and Present

November 18, 2017 | by

Generations of painters and sculptors make up the fabric of art of the American West. The ongoing influence of artists, reaching back to the 1800s, is evident in the ambitions and efforts of younger artists today and, just as the best artists of old are known by their unique stylistic voices, a new generation strives to develop its own voice and, perhaps, the opportunity to influence those who follow them. Art of the West has been a platform for Western art for the past 30 years, helping us to hear the voices of new generations of artists, along with echoes
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Western Art: An Evolving Story

Western Art: An Evolving Story

November 18, 2017 | by

In the late 19th century, Western artists were, in essence, historians of the American West. James Catlin, Hudson River School artists Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran and others created realistic paintings that told the story of Indians, white pioneers, and unspoiled landscape. Other well-known artists, such as Frederic Remington and Charlie Russell, expanded the genre into action scenes depicting the disappearing Wild West. In more recent history, illustrators such as Howard Terpning, Frank McCarthy, Bob Kuhn, and Howard Rogers, continued to document the Western story, but from a more contemporary standpoint. Does that mean there is a Western art revolution,
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Simple Dignity

Simple Dignity

November 18, 2017 | by

George Carlson is a man of many dimensions. He is a former illustrator and a reformed ski bum. He is a husband and father, a grandfather and gardener. He also a master artist, who for more than five decades, has been creating works that have earned him worldwide acclaim and countless awards. And yet, he is unpretentious, happily content to pursue the craft that has captivated him since childhood and that continues to excite him. Born and raised in Illinois, today Carlson and his wife Pam live on 55 acres of land near a lake in Idaho, where four gardens—English,
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