Featured Artwork: Darcie Peet

Change in the Air
24 x 30 in.
Oil
Oil Painters of America National Exhibit, RS Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, Texas
Aug 17–Sept 19, 2020

Late afternoon, for one last hike of the day, we headed up to Hidden Lake Pass in Glacier National Park. Distinct Reynolds Mountain loomed above, set off by a foreboding, stormy sky as weather had been turbulent , grey and chilly all day. Finally, it looked like a welcome change was coming as the clouds broke, letting in scattered rays of warm sun and also revealed an early rising moon. More change was in the air as the seasons were shifting from summer to autumn. Grasses and wildflowers dried and began to turn gold, tan and sienna, as a lower September sun cast longer shadows.

Featured in Southwest Art, Art of the West and Western Art Collector, Arizona and Colorado landscape painter, Darcie Peet, is a Signature Member, Oil Painters of America and honorary Artist Member of Tucson’s historic Mountain Oyster Club. Painting and living an outdoor life since childhood… hiking, cycling, skiing, kayaking and riding the back country of the Rockies, Alaska and Southwest are part of the exploration and discovery of “wild places” Peet loves in seeking singular painting material. For me, these backcountry spaces are powerful, humbling, have such a sense of awe and deserve great respect. Along with light, mood and a strong sense of place, it is these feelings and experiences that I strive to capture in my work.

With a B.A. in Art and M.A. in Interior Design, Peet has taught art and pursued a multi-faceted career in graphic design, advertising, and commercial interior design. Major shows include: Settlers West-Great American West Show; The Russell; Hockaday Museum’s A Timeless Legacy: Women Artists of Glacier National Park; Cowgirl Up; Museum of Western Art Annual Western Art Roundup; Salon International; Trailside’s Masters in Miniature; Oil Painters of America National Show; and Arts for the Parks.

Key awards: Best Miniature-Hockaday Museum’s Women Artists of Glacier National Park; Oil Painters of America-Landscape Award; Salon International-Western Genre Award; 1st Place, 2-Dimensional-Cowgirl Up Show. American Art Collector Award of Excellence-American Women Artists National Show; Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters-Best of Show, Collector’s Choice and Artists’ Choice awards. In June 2017, Peet was honored with the cover of Southwest Art Magazine along with another feature article.

Peet’s work is commissioned; in private, museum and corporate collections including the Pearce Museum, Corsicana, TX, Vail Valley Medical Center, Steadman Clinic and Arrabelle Hotel, Vail, CO, and Mountain Oyster Club, Tucson, AZ. Peet was honored to serve as the 2020 judge for the 50th Anniversary Show, Women Artists of the West, Settlers West Gallery, Tucson, AZ.

Represented by:
Settlers West Gallery, Tucson, AZ
The Broadmoor Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO
A.Banks Gallery, Bozeman, MT
K Newby Gallery, Tubac, AZ
Artzline, America’s Online Gallery

Recent and Upcoming Shows:
The Broadmoor Art Experience, Broadmoor Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO
A Timeless Legacy: Women Artists of Glacier National Park, Hockaday Museum, Kalispell, MT
Oil Painters of America, National Exhibit, R.S. Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX
Museum of Western Art, 37th Annual Western Round-Up, Kerrville, TX
Mountain Oyster Club 51st Annual Contemporary Western Art Show
Settlers West Great American West Show, Tucson, AZ

www.darciepeet.com
www.Facebook.com/DarciePeet
www.instagram.com/darciepeetartiststudio

Featured Artwork: Barbara Coleman

A Thousand Faces
16 x 20 in.
Oil on Linen Panel
Available through Illume Gallery of Fine Art, St. George, Utah

A Thousand Faces is the result of a study painted in the company of great friends, wonderful artists, and much laughter. It was October, and the group of plein air painters had pulled over to the side of the road and snuck between fence lines to paint the glowing cliffs.

The backcountry of Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, is luminous and ancient. It is a landscape of paradoxes for the human soul: simultaneously fleeting and eternal. While now an expanse of desert canyons and cliffs, it used to be part of an ocean, the shorelines are preserved to this day. Ghost Ranch’s duality of being both rich in color and architectural elements, yet honed down to its essence, has captivated artist Barbara Coleman for much of her life. To begin coming to terms with this place, much less paint it, the artist must become unflinchingly present to the shining cliffs, radiant shadows and vast, cobalt sky; and then give herself completely away to them. The poet David Whyte writes: “Sometimes it takes a great sky to find that first, bright and indescribable wedge of freedom in your own heart.” This place, and this great sky, has that kind of power to create freedom of expression.

On that sunny afternoon, laughter slowly gave way to intense focus and solitude as Barbara painted several studies, gathering her color notes and ideas to guide her future work. Afternoon flowed swiftly into evening and Venus hung brightly in the sky as she finished capturing the study that would later become A Thousand Faces.

A Thousand Faces is part of the Oil Painters of America Virtual Western Regional Show hosted by Illume Gallery of Fine Art in St. George, Utah. It is available for purchase through Illume Gallery.

Connect with Barbara online!
Website www.barbaracoleman.com
Facebook Barbara (McReynolds) Coleman
Instagram @barbaracolemanartist

Barbara is a member of these art organizations:
Oil Painters of America
Pastel Society of America, Signature Member
Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, Signature Member, Membership Director
Women Artists of the West, Associate Member

UPCOMING SHOWS:
Oil Painters of America 29th National Juried Exhibition, RS Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, Texas

Oil Painters of America Virtual Western Regional Exhibition, Illume Gallery of Fine Art, St. George, Utah

ArtsThrive Art Exhibition, Albuquerque Art Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Juried Members Online Exhibition, Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, Blumenschein Museum, Taos, New Mexico

Featured Artwork: Rick Dickinson

In the Wind
24 x 36 in.
Oil on Linen
$7,570.00
Available through the artist

In the Wind began as a plein air painting completed on a Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine annual art trip this particular year a cruise up the Rhine River and visit to Amsterdam. Also included was a pre-trip for painters who enjoyed several days painting in Bruges, Belgium and Zaandam, Netherlands. Zaandam is the site of a windmill museum, Molenmuseum, depicted restored antique windmills, one of which actual ground pigments for Rembrandt and grinds pigments offered for sale today. You can learn more about the annual art trips through the magazine.

At the 2019 Lincoln Arts Festival on Southport, Maine, Rick volunteered to demonstrate for the three days of the show and chose to start this studio painting using his plein air study and a photograph as references. He was at the show in front of his easel, engrossed in the work when he felt the presence of someone behind him. There was a couple paying close attention and clearly interested. The gentleman’s face light up with delight. The painting brought back fond memories of his being stationed near Zaandam after the war. Rick and the couple were even more delighted that Rick was able to gift them the plein air study.

Rick grew up in upstate New York, enjoyed a career as an executive in the construction industry, and now paints full time. He maintains studios in Lawrence, MA, and Southport, ME, and has many years of workshop and atelier training at The Ingbretson Studio of Painting and Drawing. His artistic goal at this time is to simply refine his craft to be the very best he can possible be when he tips over. The quest to capture the beauty of nature is a lifelong journey. The appeal is that the results never fully meet the objective, and his truth is that he hopes the two never meet because then the learning may stop and the game may be over.

To see more of Rick’s work visit DickinsonArt.com.
Or call him at 207-350-5772 to arrange a studio visit.

Featured Artwork: Kari Ganoung Ruiz

Question of Time
30 x 40 in.
Oil on Panel

The 12th annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art is pleased to welcome New York artist Kari Ganoung Ruiz to this year’s event. Ruiz is joining 22 plein air artists participating this year.

During Plein Air at Grand Canyon from September 12th through September 17th, visitors can watch the artists at work, painting along the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. These artists know the canyon intimately and are successful in capturing its beauty, its mystery, and its wonder on canvas. They face and overcome the challenges the canyon presents—its over-whelming vastness, ever changing light and color, and always unpredictable weather.

All of the participating Celebration of Art artists submit a Grand Canyon themed studio painting prior to the event. Of her studio painting Question of Time, Ruiz reflects:

How many nights turned to day,
How small we are compared.
When did the stone give way to wind and rain?
Why does this place move us so.
Why direct us to describe, represent, wander amidst
capture, hold on to, be awed by
but then let go?
All of these questions down to one.
The question of time.

Beginning September 20th, 2020, and open daily through January 18th, 2021, Ruiz’s work and the work of the other CoA artists will be exhibited and available for purchase at the historic Kolb Studio at the South Rim of Grand Canyon. Admission is free and open to the public. The work can also be viewed at the website below.

For more information visit:
https://www.grandcanyon.org/get-involved/events/celebration-of-art/
or contact Kathy Duley at [email protected] or 480-277-0458 for more information.

Featured Artwork: Kathryn Ashcroft

A Great Day for Fishing
24 x 18 in.
Oil on Linen
Available from the Artist

THE ART OF NATURE
A Great Day for Fishing features a beautiful Great Egret. I love shorebirds and the Great Egret is one of my all time favorites. I painted this one in a morning setting, as the sun is rising and filling the day with glorious colors.

This beautiful bird, a master at fishing, stands at the ready. Its life depends on what it can find for breakfast and it truly is a great day for fishing.

Kathryn Ashcroft was born in a small, Northern Utah farming town in 1961. She was raised on the family dairy farm where animals were fed before people were and a strong work ethic was instilled in her at a young age. Many hours were spent on the back of a horse and riding was her favorite pass time. Her Mother, also an artist, created beautiful paintings in oil and this was a great source of inspiration. Kathryn began drawing animals early and was encouraged and taught by her Mother and by Nature.

Striving to convey the essence of the animal, as opposed to a detailed depiction, she uses a loose, painterly style. The result is a beautiful rendition of what the viewer would see if they were viewing the animal in the wild. Abstract backgrounds bring the focus of the painting to the animal itself.

As a child, Kathryn had ample opportunities to view wildlife in its natural environment. She continues observing and studying animals every day and her paintings are based on personal experiences that she has had. She will not paint an animal unless she has seen it and studied it in the wild. Countless hours are spent outdoors and in nature capturing reference material for her artwork.

The use of light, color, shape and value are important to Kathryn and she is constantly striving to bring all dimensions of her paintings to a higher level.

Her work can be found in collections across the country and internationally. It is her desire that all who view her work will have a greater appreciation for the natural world.

Kathryn is regularly invited to participate in the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, South Carolina, and she has had her work accepted into the prestigious Birds In Art international competition in Wausau, Wisconsin.

Gallery Representation:
Horizon Fine Art Gallery, Jackson, Wyoming
Summit Gallery, Park City, Utah
Sorrel Sky Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

For more of Kathryn’s work you can follow her on Instagram and Facebook as Kathy Ashcroft.
She can be reached through email and phone at [email protected] and 435.890.0912.
View more of Kathryn’s work at www.kathyashcroft.com.