Image of the Day, May 1, 2012

“…always a new horizon—but always back to the deserts of America.” - Ed Ainsworth writing about the artist Don Perceval

Don Perceval was born in England in 1908, but moved to California with his family when he was young. He studied at the Chouinard Art School and illustrated his first book at age 19. He made numerous trips to the desert to paint and ultimately, the Hopi made him a member of their tribe in 1952. Among his illustration commissions was the work he did for the “Santa Fe Magazine,” published by the Santa Fe Railroad.

Hopiland, n.d., tempera on paper, 22 x 16 in. Credit: Webposters Arizona, n.d., tempera on paper, 22 x 16 in. Credit: VanSabbenAuctions

Image of the day, April 22, 2012

By Donna Poulton

Credit: Brian Cobble Brian Cobble’s (1953-) photo-realist pastels are situated in locations as diverse as southern Utah's red rock country and sophisticated upscale department store windows in New York City, but it was his depictions of small-town America that first caught my attention. Cobble focuses on vernacular elements: a water tower, grain silos reflected in a store window, kitchy curios (a hobby craft donkey and tulips) in the front yard, the garden hose, curtained windows of well kept homes — all elements that comprise the infrastructure and personality of small towns found anywhere in America, but especially in the west.

Credit: Brian Cobble While evidence of human endeavor is obvious, Cobble’s images are unpopulated; an edgy silence and sober clarity pervade the small town scenes. In “Prom Nite,” the mannequins act on layers of shared memory of small town life holding the promise of youth suggested by the title, but also evoking tension and ambiguity inherent in a plastic model of perfection and its connotation for the persona of a community.

Credit: Brian Cobble “…The United States is so large and so diverse … that one is often both awed and spooked by its landscapes. This has always made me approach landscape painting with a sense of respect, and with an eye out for the surreal, the mystical, or the just plain quirky, things not hard to find if you’re looking for them.” — Brian Cobble

Image of the Day, April 6, 2012

After working for sixteen years as an illustrator, Rob Colvin quit in 1999 to work full time as a fine artist. He readily admits that he still loves to “stylize, design and to find the geometry in the land,” observing that his work is “evolutionary, in that I will start out with an idea in mind, but the piece will evolve into something I didn’t picture in the beginning. The process can be very frustrating when it’s not working and thrilling when it does.”

Rob Colvin, Razorback Bluff, c. 2011, Oil on canvas, 42 x 42 in. Credit: Rob Colvin StudioRob Colvin, Camel Back Canyon, c. 2011, Oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in. Credit: Rob Colvin Studio

Image of the Day, March 20, 2012

Jay Moore (1964-) is a Colorado native who began his career, as so many fine artists have, as an illustrator. Moore credits his work with Clyde Aspevig at the Art Students League of Denver as a pivotal point in his decision to turn to fine art. Beyond actual form and color Jay has a wider and richer frame of reference. He responds to the magnitude and scale of the western landscape by depicting his subject in large-scale paintings—often using bodies of water to orient the viewer’s eye horizontally through the canvas.

Jay Moore, View Down Buffalo Valley, c. 2011, oil on canvas 60 x 80 in. Credit: Crested Butte Plein Air InvitationalLower Ugashik Lake, c. 2011, oil on canvas, 36 x 72 in. Credit: Jaymoorestudio.com

Image of the Day, March 7, 2012

By Donna Poulton

“And there were the trees, clumped together in patches of woods left standing between stretches of fields—the sunlight, broken and spotted, streaming through tangled branches, illuminating trunks, bent, twisted and straight, that cast shadows across the … ground.” -- Bonnie Posselli

Utah artist Bonnie Posselli is well known for her red-rock images of the desert southwest and her painterly pastoral landscapes of rural Utah farmland. She counts John F. Carlson, LeConte Stewart and Edgar Payne among the artists whose techniques and styles have informed her work … but they never painted like this. Her paintings, Through the Looking Glass and Subtlety are strong images of delicate light held together by a tapestry of branches and luminosity.

Bonnie Posselli, Through the Looking Glass, 1992, oil 30x 24 in. Credit: Bonnieposselli.com The broken color and tonal variations transport the viewer to sun-drenched cathedrals--the branches acting as the lead in the stained glass windows--holding the picture together.  The tonal impression of light and movement reverberate in these scenes painted by this talented artist.

Bonnie Posselli, Subtlety, 1994, oil 10x 20 in. Credit: Bonnieposselli.comHer book, The Paintings of Bonnie Posselli can be found at BonniePosselli.com:

Credit: bonnieposselli.com