The Towering Tetons

It's a thrill and an honor to be the first 2D artist to be presented in The Brinton Museum's new Meet the Artist program. It's also a sad affair because it will be the last show in the museum's old Exhibition Gallery that has housed so many landmark Western Art exhibitions over the years. Soon it will be remodeled into classrooms.

For instance - it was in this very gallery that I first became aware of many of the western landscape artists that came to embody what I wanted to be as a painter. I saw their work in solo and group exhibitions: Skip Whitcomb, T. Allen Lawsen, Lorenzo Chavez, Matt Smith, Bob Barlow, Dan Young, and many more. It was where I met Lorenzo Chavez in person and decided to take a workshop with him. No bigger step ever happened for me in terms of artistic development.

As I gained my footing in the art world, The Brinton Museum became one of the cornerstones of my exhibition experience. My first solo show there was a small one in 2011. I had only a small room to exhibit but still, it was a landmark for me. I sold reasonably well and felt it was a great stepping stone.

Earlier this year it was a complete surprise and honor to be selected as the first 2D artist to be represented in the new Meet the Artist program, complete with a show of my own in the large Exhibition Gallery. I have 31 pastel paintings in the show. They've been expertly hung with the kind attention of the museum director himself, Ken Schuster.

As one of The Brinton's regular stable of artists, I feel like I can offer young artists a bit of perspective and perhaps even some technical coaching. My exhibition opens on November 13, 2015 but the main reception is on the 15th. I'll give a demonstration of pastel painting at 1:00 on that Sunday followed by a reception where I can answer questions from 2:00 until 4:00. My demo will be divided between a gallery tour of the work on display and an easel demo of the techniques I commonly employ. The gallery tour will be useful for artists and collectors of all stripes since I plan to focus on composition and mood which are common to all media. The easel demo is probably more useful for those who are experimenting with the pastel medium or thinking about doing so. I welcome all to the demo and look forward to a lively discussion.

First Cutting

A Part of the Exhibition. Photo by Barbara McNab