Kami Mendlik - Surrender to the Process (72)
Artful Painter
Kami Mendlik’s exquisite landscape paintings shimmer and vibrate with animated light and color. Her life-long journey of curiosity and keen observation of the natural world began when she was a young child. The Minnesota farmland she grew up on was fertile not just for crops, but also for a young mind curious about the wonders of the land that was her home. She was entranced by the beauty of nature's rhythm and harmony and its myriad colors. Kami thinks of herself as a lifelong student. Each seeming advance of knowledge leads to more questions and a never-ending quest to answer them in her...
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Greg Newbold - Evidence of Process (71)
Artful Painter
Greg Newbold is a fine art painter and illustrator based near Salt Lake City, Utah. Greg says that for him, “art is a soulful expression.” His hope is that a piece of him comes out at the end of his brush onto the surface of a painting and connects with the spirit of the viewer. Greg’s compelling visions of the American West are distilled through the filter of his own life experiences. Building upon that, he applies his own unique creative filters of simplification, light, color, shape, and texture. This creative alchemy results in paintings that feature bold composition, strong value...
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Priya Gore - A Dash of Wilderness (70)
Artful Painter
Priya Gore’s extraordinary paintings of birds and wildlife are breathtaking. Her paintings are full of color, vibrancy, and energy. She says painting large allows her whole body to become fully engaged in the flow and gesture of painting. The process of painting is like a joyous dance, each lyrical movement breathes life into the birds that are often the subject of her art. It was against improbable odds that Priya would become the artist she is today. She came from a large family in a small village in India. In India, she says much of your future is already decided before you are conceived...
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Craig Stephens - Drawn to Form (69)
Artful Painter
Craig Stephens is an artist who delights in painting everyday things. I started following Craig after a chancing upon his Instagram account. I was instantly drawn to his small oil paintings of french fries, toy dinosaurs, peanut butter sandwiches, sneakers, hamburgers, and other everyday objects. I knew this was a painter I wanted to talk with! Craig Stephens was born in Sacramento, California in 1963. He received his B.A. in art studio in 1993. During his undergraduate years, he had the privilege of taking classes from Gary Pruner, Roy DeForest, David Hollowell, and Wayne Thiebaud. He began...
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Kim Lordier - An Inner Strength (68)
Artful Painter
Kim Lordier is an extraordinary pastel painter whose works are cherished by collectors from around the world. Her path to becoming a full-time painter took flight in unexpected ways. Beginning with earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree she became – a flight attendant! Soon, though, she returned with firm resolve to making fine art her life’s work. For the first two decades of her painting career, she focused primarily on the landscape – both from life in and in her studio. Filled with rich color, her landscapes demonstrate her unique spirit of mark-making. In time, her love of horses...
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Brian Buckrell - Freedom to Play (67)
Artful Painter
Brian Buckrell is a full-time Canadian painter. After a long, successful career as a Professor of Veterinary Medicine, he made the decision to switch to a career doing one of the hardest things known to humankind: painting fine art. The transition wasn’t easy - especially doing so much later in life while in his sixties. He admits there were times he felt like quitting. However, he stuck with it. Brian doggedly continued developing his painting skills. Recognizing the importance of learning the fundamentals of the craft, he attended many workshops and enrolled full-time at the highly...
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Mitchell Albala - Mystery and Atmosphere (66)
Artful Painter
Mitchell Albala is a fine art painter, noted author, and beloved workshop instructor. His first book, Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice, is a well-worn reference in my personal library since 2009 when it was first published. Mitchell now has an exciting new book available, The Landscape Painter's Workbook: Essential Studies in Shape, Composition, and Color. When I received this book a couple of months ago and read it, I knew this would also be a treasured – and much used – volume in my library. This is a one-and-a-half-hour-long episode...
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Ariana Richards - Poetic Realism (65)
Artful Painter
Ariana Richards delights in expressing her creativity in both painting and acting. Encouraged by her family at an early age, she developed an intense interest in the arts. She developed her painting skills even though as a young child she was busy acting. Ariana has appeared in over 30 movies and television shows – including portraying the young computer wizard Lex in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park. She went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts and Drama at Skidmore College. Her painting skills earned her the honor of being one of the youngest artists to become a member of the...
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Robert Henri - A Secret Identity (64)
Artful Painter
Robert Henri's book The Art Spirit inevitably makes it in any artist's top ten artbook recommendations. As passionate students of Art, we know Robert Henri. His paintings make up an extraordinary body of work. He is considered the "father" of the Ashcan School - a loose alliance of artists whose approach to painting had more in common with journalism than stuffy, academic Traditionalism. Henri taught in many art schools. By some estimates, he taught more than a thousand students – including Edward Hopper and George Bellows. He was universally beloved as a teacher by his students. Today we...
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Scott L. Christensen - Managing Chaos (63)
Artful Painter
Scott L. Christensen must paint - it is core to his very being. His keen eye and probing curiosity of nature reveal a deep love of not just being outdoors – but, rather, immersed in it with all senses engaged. His response to the landscape is visceral. He wants the viewer to feel a deep emotional connection with the landscape.
info_outlineBill Anton was the first professional painter I ever met. It was a chance encounter. In the late 1990’s my family and I were vacationing in Jackson, Wyoming. One evening I decided to walk into one of the several art galleries that lined the square. It was intimidating, as I had never set foot in an art gallery before. As my eyes adjusted to the interior lighting of Trailside Gallery, I became enthralled at the dozens of paintings hanging in the gallery depicting Western scenes.
Only two people were in the gallery when I took my first timid steps into it. One person was a woman working for Trailside. And the other person was man wearing a black cowboy hat. The woman greeted me and explained that the paintings before me were by an artist named Bill Anton. I told her I didn’t know who he was. So, she offered, “Let me introduce you to him.” She led me to the man wearing the cowboy hat and said: “This is Bill Anton." I don’t remember what I was said at the time, but I do remember his kindness towards me - a rookie who knew next to nothing about art! After that brief encounter with Bill I spent the next couple of hours closely examining each of his extraordinary paintings. It was a transformative moment for me. It was at that moment that I decided I wanted to be able to paint like this one day.
Indeed Bill’s remarkable paintings of the Western landscape, the equine figure, and the human figure are without equal. There’s a cinematic feel to his paintings. Bill's focus when painting is not about technical execution, but, rather, about mood and passion. The visual poetry of his paintings profoundly affect you as a viewer. It’s a visceral feeling - one I well remember that evening walking into Trailside Gallery - even though it’s been over twenty years ago. You are drawn in to sit by a warmly glowing campfire. You feel the chill of the high desert air set in as the sun casts its last rays upon the distant peaks. You hear the snorts and neighing of the horses and the stamping of their feet. The smell of dust and musk from a long day’s ride linger in your nostrils. You see it, you smell it, you feel it. And that’s just the way Bill Anton wants it. Each painting demonstrates his deep seated passion for painting the west.
Mentioned in this episode:
Bill Anton Website: http://www.billantonstudio.com
Video: Under the Spell of the West from Western Horseman: https://youtu.be/G3r2C7Mq3xU
Ralph Oberg in episode 1 of the Artful Painter https://carlolson.tv/artful-painter/ralph-oberg-mountain-painter-1
Matt Smith in episode 2 of the Artful Painter https://carlolson.tv/artful-painter/matt-smith-impressionistic-naturalism-2
Skip Whitcomb in episode 21 of the Artful Painter https://carlolson.tv/artful-painter/skip-whitcomb-purity-of-vision-21
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