Emerging Artists
The animals in Kat Kinnick’s paintings gaze out at the viewer, inviting a return gaze, a recognition of their existence. She says, “My paintings are invitations to turn our attention towards the natural beauty that is unfolding around us, and I believe that if our culture loved our wilderness, it would be better protected. My heart is leading me to make this work because my heart resides with our wilderness.”
A native of northern New Mexico, she lives near Lone Butte and the Cerrillos Mountains south of Santa Fe, amid the flora and fauna of the high desert. Her paintings, drawings, prints and decorated ceramics depict fearless playful animals, at home in their environment despite the many threats to it. She received her
BFA in interdisciplinary sculpture with a concentration in sustainability and social practice at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, Maryland. The charming innocence of her work belies her intense commitment to bringing increasing awareness of our natural environment and a commitment to preserving it not only for ourselves but for our animal neighbors.
Morgan Cameron was born in Maine where she continues to live and work. She grew up on a farm riding horses, learning their anatomy, drawing them and, eventually, painting them. She says, “Living creatures are constantly moving, and I strive to capture that movement in my paintings. Much of my work refrains from forcing the viewer into
a narrative of my own creation by providing too much information but rather longs to encourage the viewer to create their own stories for my paintings. This may be why
I am drawn to looser forms and brushwork in paintings. It is less precise and leaves room for improvisation during the creation process and makes gestures of ideas that the viewer can decipher as they wish.”
The Sorrel and its rider stand at rest, momentarily, the rider’s lasso at the ready and the energetically applied and scraped paint suggesting potential movement. Light dances around the sorrel’s copper-red body highlighting parts and casting others in shadow.
Kyle Sims grew up near Cheyenne, Wyoming, encouraged by his parents at an early age to pursue his interest in art. At 13 his interest turned to animals and at 16, he began taking lessons from working artists who focused on wildlife. One of his teachers, Paco Young, urged him to get outside to paint from life, developing a true sense of animals in their environment. Now, he is able to translate the experience of the wild into his realist canvases. He says, “The
more interaction there is going on in the field, the better the storytelling—and the painting.”
Although he is cognizant of the danger associated with some of his subjects, his experience and observation often reveal other aspects of their lives. In Lazy Boy, a bear lolls on a rock in the fall woods, not too anxious to fill up on food before his winter hibernation. His gentle giant appearance is betrayed by his prominent powerful claws.
Ulrich Gleiter was born in Germany and paints there, in Russia and in the United States, winning best of show prizes at plein air events in California, Wyoming and Colorado. He can be seen out in the winter fields bundled up in his paint-smeared parka. After the Rain (Caucasus) is an example of his mix of German expression and Russian impressionism with its thick impasto of hastily applied paint, emulating his observation that “natural forces never stop moving.” He explains, “I try to mix colors as little as possible. I try to mix basically on the canvas itself. I find that this gets the most vibrant results.”
Jane Freilicher (1924-2014) painted her unique style of realism during the period when abstract expressionism was at its peak. She wrote, “To strain after innovation, to worry about being on ‘the cutting edge’ (a phrase I hate), reflects a concern for a place in history or one’s career rather than the authenticity of one’s painting.”
These young painters march to the beat of their own drums, faithful to the reality they observe and to their own vision.
Continue reading this special section to learn about several other talented artists who are emerging onto the Western art scene.
An avid lover of the beauty inherent in the outdoors and the natural world, Montanabased artist Thomas G. Lewis paints serene and idyllic scenes of mountains, farms, fields, rivers, streams, wildlife and more. Though Lewis first emerged as a serious painter in 1960, he has been steadily growing since then, and his work is owned and displayed by collectors, organizations and corporations across the West. Raised on the Navajo Reservation and several cattle ranches in Colorado and New Mexico, the artist is intimately acquainted with the American West’s picturesque landscapes and heritage. His oil Early chill is an impressionistic piece capturing the early hints of fall—a tree of warm reds and pinks stands out in the foreground next to the greenness of the other trees that have yet to turn. “After spending most of my early efforts (40 years) painting in watercolor, I became captivated with the feel of the buttery quality of thick oil paint.”
While working primarily in soft pastels, Nancy O. Stainton has recently been experimenting, working in multi-media as well. “I am passionate about creating art that impacts myself and others on a deeper level, and I try to use colors and techniques to facilitate this. I sincerely want the world to respect and honor Indigenous and minority people, which is why both subjects are a large part of my work’s focus,” says Stainton. Her central focus are portraits, but she loves to capture landscapes and seascapes as well. “Most of my portraits are done in a realistic style while the landscapes are more impressionistic. My favorite artists are Rembrandt, Degas and van Gogh…
I will continue to portray poignant scenes involving Indigenous and minority people as this is what I am driven to do. I will also continue to explore the beauty in nature and make it come to life.”