Archives for Portrait

Speaking the Language of Paint

Speaking the Language of Paint

September 18, 2017 | by

Every once in awhile, Nancy Boren comes across two watercolor paintings she did of the Grand Canyon, when she was about 12. “They were, without doubt, the worst paintings ever created,” she says. “I think I’ve made some progress since then.” That’s an understatement for this talented artist, who describes those early paintings as resembling “a big bunch of purple hamburger meat,” due in part to the fact that, at that age, she was unable to view the scene as a whole. She’s come a long way since then, earning prestigious awards for her paintings, while also finding other outlets
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‘I Paint What Excites Me’

‘I Paint What Excites Me’

September 18, 2017 | by

As humble as he is talented, New Mexico artist Kang Cho is a man of few words and doesn’t like to talk about himself. Then again, he doesn’t need to; his art speaks for itself. Whether he’s painting a mountain vista, a city street, or a figure on a lonely road, his dramatic paintings engage and entice the viewer to look deeper. Kang’s use of light and shadow, combined with expressive brushwork, creates a mood that evokes an emotional response. Sometimes contemplative, sometimes exuberant, he paints how he feels about what he sees. “I paint what excites me,” he explains.
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A Man on a Mission

A Man on a Mission

September 18, 2017 | by

In the summer of 2016, Scott Tallman Powers put most of his belongings in storage, hitched his eight-foot camper to his truck, and took off for Alaska with his dog. He was on a mission, as he always is, when he travels, to find subject matter for his paintings. “People,” Powers says. “I was looking for native people, trappers, miners—the people of Alaska.” Powers had intended to spend the summer there, meeting people, taking photos, and painting. But when he got there, he realized that he needed more time. The people he was looking for were in some of the
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The Studio of David Lemon

The Studio of David Lemon

July 18, 2017 | by

The old saying that “good things coming in small packages” could very well be applied to the studio in which Montana-based sculptor David Lemon creates his legendary Western bronzes. The intricate design and historically accurate detail in each piece belies the fact that these captivating images are being brought to life in a working space not even as large as the average bedroom, an area that Lemon describes as a “cozy space, one in which he is comfortable responding to his creative muses. David Lemon (Montana) The Protector Bronze 26″ High
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Making Connections, Seeing Patterns

Making Connections, Seeing Patterns

July 18, 2017 | by

“Painting is all about seeing,” oil painter Carolyn Anderson frequently notes. It’s a talking point in previous interviews, and it’s something she reiterates regularly to the intermediate and advanced art students, who attend her workshops. It’s also a concept absolutely essential to understanding her art, both in terms of creative process and end result. “Too many of us repeat that information without thinking about what that actually means,” Anderson says. “If it actually is all about seeing, it takes on a whole new level of importance.” Carolyn Anderson Before the Race Oil 12″x12″ “I like imagery with some kind of
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The Long and Winding Road

The Long and Winding Road

July 18, 2017 | by

“I was an out-of-control child,” John DeMott says. “I was right-brain from the get-go. We would walk to kindergarten, and sometimes I wouldn’t make it to class, so my mother would come looking for me, and I would be catching butterflies. I did what I wanted to do, not necessarily what I was supposed to do. I have kind of marched to my own tune my whole life.” He has indeed. But, oh what a tune it is. Today, DeMott is a successful artist—and part-time musician—living in Loveland, Colorado, where he is surrounded by the natural beauty, the people, and
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Western Inspiration

Western Inspiration

May 18, 2017 | by

The son of American missionary parents, Don Oelze was born in New Zealand in 1965 and lived there for the next nine years of his life. Despite those beginnings half a continent away, who now lives in Montana, has been blessed with the ability to portray the history of the American West with a remarkably vivid and captivating reality. The explanation of this gift is simple: From early childhood, his mother and father had piqued their son’s curiosity about Western and Native American cultures by sharing stories of their own upbringings in Arizona and Montana. His maternal grandmother reinforced the
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Personal Connections

Personal Connections

May 18, 2017 | by

When Huihan Liu was a child in rural China, he managed to save enough money to buy a small sketchbook. The store, where he could purchase it, was several miles away from his home, but Liu chose to walk instead of taking the bus, so that he could use all of his money on paper. “It was just a little piece of a sketchbook, but I was so happy to have it,” he says. “I would draw on it and then erase it, so that I could draw on it again. I drew on that paper over and over again.”
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Spiritual Connection

Spiritual Connection

March 18, 2017 | by

Riding, roping, and sculpting are the things Greg Kelsey’s dreams are made of. Deep inside this sculptor beats the heart of a cowboy. He is the intrepid soul who likes to stand on the precipice of the future and hurl himself headlong over the edge to pursue his dreams. If it doesn’t always look real pretty, chalk it up to opportunities—not challenges—that have served well him during his 45 years on this earth. From childhood on, Kelsey was drawn to the natural world, coming from a long line of ranchers and rural dwellers. He also was drawn to art at
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Truth, Beauty, and Happy Accidents

Truth, Beauty, and Happy Accidents

March 18, 2017 | by

Ask Eric Bowman what he does for fun, when he isn’t painting and you might get a long, slightly self-conscious silence, followed by this sheepish admission: “When I’m not painting, I’m thinking about painting.” Bowman spends long days in his backyard studio in northwest Oregon, patiently creating richly textured oil paintings in a style he describes as “not as tight as realism, but not as abstract as impressionism.” Sometimes he paints figures, sometimes he paints landscapes, and occasionally he does a still life. On the rare days Bowman feels uninspired, he attends to the busywork that goes along with being
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