For a kid growing up in northern England, there was nothing more exotic and intriguing than depictions of the American West. At least that was the case for artist Andrew Bolam, who recalls watching the Lone Ranger and John Wayne and fantasizing about what it would be like to roam amongst buffalos, cowboys and Native Americans. Now, as an adult, this fascination comes to life through his artwork.
They say, “Go big or go home.” And that certainly seems to apply to J. Todd Paxton’s approach to his art. From his monumental statues of Native American warriors to his large-scale patina-on-steel paintings, the sheer scale of his work alone is enough to produce a visceral feeling. But he also uses texture, color and life-like details to tap into human emotion.
Paint where you live. This is a motto artist Jerry Salinas has come to live by and it took a move to the sunny Southwest to shift his perspective. Previously living in Chicago and other dense urban areas much of his life, Jerry’s subject matter often focused on city life. But after moving West, he began to see the rich history and saturated colors that surrounded him…that quickly became his muse.
Modern Western art…can it be? Indeed it can! Meet the artists who are introducing a vibrant, modernist twist on art of the West. This week, artists Shannon Leigh, Jerry Salinas and Ray Tigerman will share how they use color, style and subject matter to ‘break the rules’ to create a distinctive take on Western art.
For Myron Whitaker, art wasn’t ever really on his radar. He already had a career in the corporate world. Out of boredom he enrolled in a ceramics class, and when he started creating, it was as if he tapped into an innate ability––like he discovered something he was meant to be doing all along.
Bringing a piece of art from start to finish is often a multi-layered process that may involve travel and exploration, collecting objects, photography, digital tools, and layers of substrates, techniques and other media.
Though Cynthia Downs-Apodaca identifies more as a metalsmith than a jeweler, she says it was a fascination with the natural beauty of stones that attracted her to jewelry making. In many regards, she’s a bit of a stone whisperer––listening to the story each stone has to tell and building her designs around that.
AI has officially infiltrated various aspects of our daily lives. Most of us interact with it in some capacity without even knowing it. But when it comes to art, where does AI fit in? Should it fit in? Or should art remain our connection to true handcraft––to emotional intelligence vs. artificial?
For artist Elizabeth Butler, one of the greatest rewards of creating art is when she can reach a state of flow––when she simply becomes a channel for the expression of art to flow through. In this interview, she shares what that experience is like, how her work has evolved over the years, and how she’s exploring combining metal leaf with her oil paintings.
The creation of art has long been used as a healing mechanism, but it turns out, viewing it has superpowers too. Discover how color, texture and the subject matter impact our cognition and overall well-being.
