Archives for Landscape

Making a Life’s Work from One Trip

Making a Life’s Work from One Trip

November 19, 2016 | by

One of the earliest white artists to portray life in the West, Alfred Jacob Miller had no idea he was headed that way, until an unexpected 1837 encounter with a Scotsman, who hired him to document the trip through illustrations. Their ensuing journey was Miller’s only westward travel. However, he found so much inspiration and made so many sketches from that one journey that it sustained commissions for the rest of his life. Miller, who made a career out of one trip, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in January 1810, the first of nine children in a family of comfortable
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Sweet Sixteen

Sweet Sixteen

November 19, 2016 | by

Contacted in mid-August to see if he would be available on the following Wednesday afternoon to do the interview for this article, Kyle Ma replied, “That won’t work; I’ll be in school.” If all you knew about Ma was that he creates beautifully rendered paintings of everything from landscapes and seascapes to flowers and chickens, you would quite naturally assume that the reason he would be in school on a Wednesday was that he would be teaching art classes. And you would be oh, so wrong. Ma is taking classes, not teaching them. You see, this remarkable painter is a
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Celebrating America’s National Parks

Celebrating America’s National Parks

November 19, 2016 | by

On August 25, 1916, with a stroke of a pen, President Woodrow Wilson signed an act that created the National Park Service—and that would result, 100 years later, in the protection and preservation of 59 national parks, encompassing approximately 51.9 million acres in 27 states. That act was inspired, in large part, by the Hudson River School painters, who eagerly painted the majestic landscape of the West. Perhaps best known is Thomas Moran, who became famous for his paintings of the Rocky Mountains and whose Western landscapes are credited as being critical to the creation of Yellowstone National Park. In
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A Visual Poet

A Visual Poet

September 19, 2016 | by

California artist Dan Pinkham wants to leave behind a legacy. Yes, his paintings will continue to be his spiritual voice into perpetuity, but he wants there to be more. His studio, a 16th century replica of the Italian Chapel that Michelangelo used as a studio when he painted the Sistine Chapel, will be that legacy. Pinkham and his wife Vicki, along with a nephew and fellow artists, have spent years refurbishing this relic. In fact, when they first saw the property, slated for demolition, it presented a daunting undertaking that neither Pinkham nor his wife felt inclined to tackle. Besides,
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I Just Have To Paint It

I Just Have To Paint It

September 19, 2016 | by

Jim Norton was, as he puts it, “scared to death.” He was pale and had a terrible headache, but he stood by his paintings, with a smile on his face, determined to suffer through what he anticipated was going to be a rather humiliating experience. The cause of Norton’s distress was his first showing with the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America (CAA). He was elected into membership in 1989, when he was just 34 years old, and was overwhelmed by the company he would be keeping—artists such as Howard Terpning, Robert Pummell, Roy Andersen, Jim Reynolds, and Ken Riley. Jim
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The Studio of Jesse Powell

The Studio of Jesse Powell

September 19, 2016 | by

Last spring, California artist Jesse Powell moved his studio from Cannery Row to the Barnyard. Yes, you read that right. But, it’s not exactly what you might think. He spent eight years in a studio in the historic American Tin Cannery Building on Cannery Row in Monterey, California. That studio looked out on the Pacific Ocean from the third floor of the former home of one of the sardine canneries that had sprouted up during the 1920s and 1930s. The 12-foot-tall windows let in plenty of natural light, and the view was spectacular, but when a space opened up in
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Impressionistic Naturalism

Impressionistic Naturalism

July 19, 2016 | by

Matt Smith has been selling his paintings since the early ‘80s, when he was just 17, but when asked when he realized that he really was an artist, he laughs and says, “I don’t know that I am yet. I know I’m a painter, but I don’t know if I’ve graduated to really being an artist. I’m continually trying to improve and take it to the next level.” Smith’s paintings have earned him inclusion in several prestigious art shows, including the Prix de West and Masters of the American West, and are eagerly sought after by art enthusiasts from around
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‘My Thing is the City’

‘My Thing is the City’

July 19, 2016 | by

It’s Friday evening, dark and rainy, and you’re caught in a traffic jam in the city, grinding your teeth and muttering a few expletives after a long, tiring week at the office. While you’re fuming, standing outside, armed with his camera, is Mark Lague, a Canadian artist, who finds beauty and excitement in painting scenes such as the one in which you find yourself trapped. “I’ve always been attracted to the city thing, but mostly on a visual level,” Lague says. “I love to paint cars, traffic jams, and the architectural elements around it.” And he does so beautifully, injecting
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Striking a Balance

Striking a Balance

May 19, 2016 | by

When Jeremy Lipking was 19 years old, he moved from his family’s home in Southern California to the Sierra Nevada mountain range. He had spent a year taking art classes at a community college but wasn’t fully committed to it. What he really wanted was to be outside—hiking in the mountains, rock climbing, and snowboarding on the California slopes. At some point during all of that outdoor activity, an idea occurred to Lipking: If he were to become a landscape artist, he could make a career out of being outside. Jeremy Lipking Ghost Herd Oil 24″x30″ This piece was inspired
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‘It’s All a Challenge’

‘It’s All a Challenge’

May 19, 2016 | by

If the Muse were to visit Len Chmiel, one imagines that he might politely, but firmly, usher her to a chair in the corner of his studio and tell her, “You can watch quietly, but please don’t disturb me while I’m painting.” Chmiel is his own muse. He takes pleasure and pride in owning every phase of the artistic process, from ideation to composition, from blank canvas to finished product, from framing and naming to digitization. Len Chmiel Early to Rise Oil 28″x30″ “The scent of morning coffee, mingling with bougainvillea blazing out loud, rewards a sunrise stroll.” Len Chmiel
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