Archives for Portrait

Reaching New Heights

Reaching New Heights

September 15, 2018 | by

Martin Grelle was a very nervous young man when, in 1974, just a year after he graduated from high school, he had his first art show at a gallery and frame shop in Clifton, Texas. “I had no idea what to expect,” he says. “It’s hard to remember, but I probably had, at most, eight or 10 pieces for the show, and we sold almost all of them the first evening. I had a combination of oils, charcoals, and pastels in the show, and the largest piece was probably an oil painting about 24” by 36”. It probably sold for
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Heart and Soul

Heart and Soul

July 15, 2018 | by

Exquisitely detailed and vibrantly personal, the imagery of Denver-based artist Jie Wei Zhou radiates the passion he feels for his subject matter, as he fulfills his mission to preserve the history and traditions of his Chinese homeland—one image at a time. From his earliest days, it was obvious that the young Shanghai native was destined to become an artist. With a sketchbook as his constant companion, the daily entries he made helped him to refine his understanding of form and light. When he was 14, he was one of only a few students singled out to receive individualized instruction at
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The Secret Sauce

The Secret Sauce

July 15, 2018 | by

It was a rainy day in Wisconsin that opened Dan Gerhartz’s eyes to his future career. Gerhartz, who grew up 40 miles north of Milwaukee, loved to be outdoors. As a teenager, he did a lot of hunting and fishing with friends and family in nearby woods. But one rainy day, a friend suggested that they do some drawing instead. “We had some Walker Foster how-to-draw books,” Gerhartz remembers. “That’s how it got started. I found out that I enjoyed it and that I had an aptitude for it.” He entered a few high school competitions, won a couple of
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‘Each Painting is Personal’

‘Each Painting is Personal’

May 15, 2018 | by

In late February, after being out of commission for several months, David Hettinger was back working in his studio, creating the wonderfully executed paintings that have earned him a host of awards, as well as inclusion in collections throughout the world. The reason for that interruption in his schedule was a torn ligament that required surgery and almost three weeks in the hospital, followed by months of recuperation at his home in Aurora, Illinois. That doesn’t mean, however, that Hettinger wasn’t working at his art. He asked fellow artist Walt Gonske and several other artist friends to send him photos
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‘It’s a Calling’

‘It’s a Calling’

May 15, 2018 | by

“Besides painting, I don’t really have any other hobbies. I don’t do anything besides painting,” says Chicago oil painter Mary Qian, when asked what sorts of things she likes to do in her spare time. She seems honestly a little bewildered by the question. Why would she not be painting? Why would she have spare time? What is spare time? Qian leads a clean, streamlined, art-centric existence, spending many of her waking hours at Chicago’s Palette & Chisel Academy of Fine Arts, an art space where she makes extensive use of the studios and the models the organization makes available
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In Praise of the Cowboy

In Praise of the Cowboy

May 15, 2018 | by

Bill Anton traces his fascination with the West back to a trip he took, when he was just 7, with his family to Glacier National Park and the West Coast. “The mountains, the air, the weather were profoundly different from anything I’d known,” says the artist, who grew up in Chicago, Illinois. “I’d never seen anything that was like the American West, and the impression it made on my mind and heart was unmistakable. I’d find a way to be back to stay the minute I was old enough—and I did.” Now living in Prescott, Arizona, Anton has been sharing
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Ode to the Old West

Ode to the Old West

March 15, 2018 | by

Rumor has it that David Edward (Ed) Kucera created his first mural at age 5. The proof no longer exists but, as the story goes, he was sequestered in his room as punishment for mischief and mayhem. So, he did what any aspiring artist might do; he saw his bedroom walls as a blank canvas on which to paint a masterpiece. Although his mother wasn’t the most ardent fan of her son’s artistic effort at the time, that foray into really big art might be why today he prefers painting large canvases. Despite this early accomplishment, art wasn’t Kucera’s first
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Passion and Prestige

Passion and Prestige

January 15, 2018 | by

When you finish reading this article, take a moment to clear away all the background distractions you’re able to eliminate. Open the magazine, or your browser, to one of Z.S. Liang’s paintings. If you’re a collector fortunate enough to own one of his works, go stand in front of it. Take in, for a few minutes, the sun-washed faces and the buckskin-clad figures, the moody skies and the red earth, the fur-trimmed clothing and the high-spirited horses, the surrounding scenery. Do your best, knowing what you know about Native American history, to piece together the story you are witnessing. Every
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The Studio of Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953)

The Studio of Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953)

November 18, 2017 | by

Nestled between the shimmering peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the precipitous gash of the Rio Grande Gorge, the light-filled Taos Valley exudes a mystical feeling that has lured peoples to this enchanting location for hundreds of years. By 1335, the Tiwa-speaking Indians had permanently settled into homes in the Taos Pueblo and soon were followed by Spanish conquistadors, explorers such as Kit Carson, and, eventually, colonists from Mexico, who founded the adobe village of Taos in 1615. Few in number, residents of that sleepy little settlement never could have imagined that, three centuries later, their livelihood would
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Women Artists: Meeting the Challenge

Women Artists: Meeting the Challenge

November 18, 2017 | by

It’s no secret that women artists often have a more difficult time than their male counterparts in not only succeeding in their careers, but in the prices paid for their work and in the collectability of that work by museums. It’s a topic that has been quietly discussed for many years, but now is gaining awareness, due in part to members of American Women Artists (AWA), who were shocked when they realized that women artists represent only 3 to 5 percent of artwork in museum collections. As a result, the group has launched 25 in 25, a campaign to have
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