Archives for Landscape

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’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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‘I Want to Surprise Myself’

‘I Want to Surprise Myself’

May 22, 2014 | by

Cross-pollination. It’s a term Colorado-based oil painter Michael Lynch uses to describe his big break into full-time art. That was more than 35 years ago, when he hooked up with other representational artists who reassured him that there was a place for such art amidst the transition to modern art. By then, Lynch already had explored trendy college art programs before settling on a degree in political science from Regis College in Denver, Colorado. He’d entered the workaday world, even considering a career as a lawyer, but his leanings were always toward representational art. Michael Lynch China Cove Oil 6˝
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For the Love of Oils

For the Love of Oils

May 22, 2014 | by

Thankfully, there are men and women who eagerly, although admittedly somewhat fearfully, stand in front of blank canvases and gather their courage—and summon all of their skills—to transform them into wondrous works of art. Before they reach that point, however, they have settled on a medium that they feel is best suited to them and their subjects. The artists we feature here have found, for the most part, what they need in oil paints. Nancy Howe Heliotrope Oil 18˝ by 24˝ “I paint because this is the ‘gift’ I was given, the means for me to grow, appreciate, and navigate
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The Studio of Dennis Doheny

The Studio of Dennis Doheny

May 22, 2014 | by

Driving down a typical residential street in Santa Barbara, California, you wouldn’t guess that a treasure lies hidden in that white stucco house—the one with the salmon-colored trim and Spanish-tiled roof. Pull into the driveway with the attached two-car garage. Can you see it? No? Park behind the family vehicles, and make your way around to the back of the garage; you’ll see it then. Dennis Doheny Gates of Heaven Oil 36˝ by 42˝
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Pleasing the Eye, Gladdening the Heart

Pleasing the Eye, Gladdening the Heart

March 22, 2014 | by

That inspirational verse, taken from his church’s sacred writings, is a rallying cry for Joshua Clare. Seldom constrained by subject matter, the Utah oil painter might choose to paint a barnyard scene, or perhaps capture the evening glow of a desert setting. In his mind, however, he is aiming beyond the elements of art to deliver a specific feeling to the viewer. Joshua Clare (Utah) San Juan Range Oil 36″ x 48″ “Ridgeway, Colorado, and the surrounding area is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s incredibly beautiful. This view of the San Juan Range was painted from
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Simplicity and Truth

Simplicity and Truth

March 22, 2014 | by

While a passion for simplicity might seem to be a bit of a dichotomy for someone born and raised in the vibrantly active Southern California beach community of Torrence, 38-year-old landscape painter Glenn Dean emphasizes this is the quality he strives for, both in his personal lifestyle and most decidedly in the creation of his dramatic Western landscapes, which portray nature in its most basic forms. Glenn Dean (California) Land of Titans Oil 30″ x 30″ “I’m drawn to the big, simple shapes found in the canyons of the Southwest. I liked the monumental silhouette of this mesa in the
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The Art of Breaking Rules

The Art of Breaking Rules

March 22, 2014 | by

Dan Bodelson is a rebel. Not a James Dean kind of rebel, not a rebel without a cause, but rather one whose focus is art. You see, so much about art, according to Bodelson, has to do with defying the rules—in essence, rebelling. “In fact, there are no rules,” he says. “Because, if someone says ‘You can’t do that and don’t mix that color with that [other one],’ the first thing an artist will go and do is just what you said not to. Dan Bodelson (New Mexico) Too Cold to Ride Oil 40″ x 30″ “I came across this
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Magical, Mystical Water

Magical, Mystical Water

January 22, 2014 | by

Water—whether a stream, lake, river, or ocean—is magical and mysterious, moody and mesmerizing. It can be peaceful or restless, soothing or savage, as it laps softly at a sandy shore or crashes against a rocky cliff. Words cannot begin to describe the beauty, the power, the majesty, of water. That is best accomplished by artists, who are inspired by its many facets and who skillfully capture them with paints. John Budicin (California) Vertigo Oil 8˝ by 18˝ David Drummond (New Mexico) Morning South of Dangling Rope Watercolor 30˝ by 50˝ Carolyn Hesse-Low (California) Shipyard and Kayaks Oil 11″ by 14″
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