Artists of Note | Nathan Solano

Capturing the West and beyond

Nathan Solano, The Incentive, oil, 12 x 24.

Nathan Solano, The Incentive, oil, 12 x 24.

This story was featured in the November 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

COLORADO ARTIST Nathan Solano isn’t into labels. So when asked to define his style, he instead prefers to discuss what makes him tick as a painter: compelling design, color, balance, edges. Having worked for many years as an illustrator and an art director for numerous advertising agencies, Solano’s got a strong handle on it all. “I miss working with people and the deadlines—it was a rush,” he says.

Admittedly, it was a high-pressure profession, adds Solano, but it instilled in him a sense of discipline that’s been useful since he began painting full time at age 40. From his studio in downtown Pueblo, he has explored a variety of themes in his oil paintings, including Native American figures and working cowboys and their horses—subjects the artist photographed (usually from his own perch atop a horse) when he cowboyed on Colorado ranches. In September, five western works by Solano appeared in the prestigious Quest for the West sale at the Eiteljorg Museum; two paintings sold on opening night.

But Solano depicts other subjects, too, including agrarian scenes, landscapes, and ocean views that compel him to grab his camera when he’s traveling. Even when armed with excellent reference material, though, the artist acknowledges that painting is consistently hard work. The key, for Solano, is to enter “the zone,” a state in his painting process when everything flows automatically—almost supernaturally. “I’ll tell people that fairies came in and finished my paintings at night,” he chuckles. —Kim Agricola

Solano is represented by Ann Korologos Gallery, Basalt, CO, and Broadmoor Galleries, Colorado Springs, CO.

This story was featured in the November 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art November 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

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