Falling Leaves
Living in New England, we often drove north in the early fall to catch the colorful foliage before it had worked its way down to the southern parts of the region—prolonging the pleasure. Now living in the desert Southwest we experience two foliage seasons, one when the aspens turn and the next when the cottonwoods turn, each bringing a golden glow to the landscape.
Mark Boedges set out to study fine art at the
University of Colorado but left to paint en plein air— studying from nature itself. Early Mountain Color is a moment when the deciduous trees begin to stand out from the evergreen of their neighbors. Boedges writes, “For me, what is essential about nature is its complexity. Everywhere I look I see the grittiness, cragginess and layered, fine-grained texture of the natural world. It is this essential complexity I try to capture in paint. Experience has taught me that the best way to do this is to let the paint do what it does best: look like paint. Drips, splatters, wipes, palette knife, various brushes and plenty of other abstract paint applications are crucial… And since I mostly work outdoors, I should mention that weather, that simple and unalterable force of nature, shapes a great part of what I do and how I do it. Time is limited and a complete and literal rendering of every element is neither possible nor desirable.”
Famed for his vistas of the Grand Canyon which he first saw when he was 18 years old, Curt Walters continues to paint its vastness and its subtleties 50 years later. From time to time he focuses his talent on more proximate subjects as in Nature’s Alchemy—a plein air study of aspens turning to gold in the mountains. He says, “My main subject matter is landscape because I am comfortable with the solidity of nature and have a great reverence for its beauty. I consider myself to be a naturalist, painting subjects as my eyes perceive them and rearranging them to suit my compositional needs.”
Evelyne Boren began painting in 1962, inspired by the colors of underwater and island life in the Bahamas. She began painting in watercolors and turned to oils which she taught herself. She developed her own style, using large
brushes for watercolor and palette knives for oils. Born in Germany, she now has studios in Sayulita, Mexico, and in Santa Fe, New Mexico, responding to the colors and forms of each venue. Fall Black Mesa is a scene near San Ildefonso Pueblo, the little adobe Chapel of the Holy Family sitting near the base of Black Mesa where the Puebloans resisted the Spanish return to New Mexico in the 1690s. Now a peaceful, site, Boren paints it in the colors of fall.
Kim Wiggins paints a scene nearby in his Fall in the Taos Valley. Wiggins grew up in Southern New Mexico and although essentially self-taught, he was mentored by Henriette Wyeth, Alexandre Hogue and William Lumpkins. He experimented with styles that had come before and eventually settled into his own unique approach to the landscape with thick impasto, bold color and energetic brush strokes.
Throughout this special collector’s focus, readers will find landscapes and nature scenes depicting the hues of harvest season from leading Western artists.
Kelly’s Collectibles and Online Art Gallery is owned and operated by Kelly Shaeffer who, through her business, connects national and international artists with collectors. This autumn, she is taking inspiration from Evening Glow by Don Oelze. “[The] contemporary Western painting is from one of our consignors who is downsizing and moving to another state to be closer to family,” Shaeffer says. “Our streamlined consignment services make it easy for our clients to sell their fine art and collectibles all in one place.”