By Donna Tennant, Kristin Bucher, Margaret Brown
Day at the Beach by Nancy Seamons Crookstron |
Nancy Seamons Crookston
Using broad strokes of the brush, Utah painter Nancy Seamons Crookston brings her characters to life with color and light. Barefoot girls dally along the ocean’s edge, their white dresses reflecting the slanting rays of the sun. Early in her career, Crookston learned the importance of color harmony from her most influential teacher, Russian master Sergei Bongart.
Crookston’s work can be found at Art and Frames by Wood Gallery, Cor-onado, CA; Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA; Gallery Americana, Carmel, CA; NanEtte Richardson Fine Art, San Antonio, TX; and Tivoli Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT. —DT
Distant Bay by Andrew Skorut |
Andrew Skorut
“The combination of representation and abstrac-tion is what inspires me,” says Utah painter Andrew Skorut. To accomplish this goal, Skorut applies alternating layers of paint and glaze. “I scratch into the layers of paint with sticks, rags, and other implements that leave interesting marks on the surface,” he says.
Born in 1969 in Krakow, Poland, Skorut had decided to become an artist by the time he finished elementary school. He emigrated to the United States in 1987 and studied at Salt Lake Community College and the Uni-versity of Utah. Skorut is represented by Third Canyon Gallery, Denver, CO; Contemporary Southwest Galleries, Santa Fe, NM; Kneeland Gallery, Sun Valley, ID; Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA, and Park City, UT; Wright Gallery, New York, NY; and The Framery, Salt Lake City, UT. —KB
Back in the Saddle by Chris Owen |
Chris Owen
Chris Owen lives the life he paints. Born and raised in Billings, MT, the artist participates in ranching activities whenever he can. Such experiences spark ideas for his paintings, which explore various themes of the working cowboy. But his depictions aren’t just surface deep. “I aim to capture the mood, the energy, the gesture, and the feeling of the subject,” he says.
Owen attended Montana State University and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. His work can be seen at Paint Horse Gallery in Breckenridge, CO, and Buffalo Trails Gallery in Jackson, WY. —LB
Roger Hayden Johnson
Dawn, Villanova by Roger Hayden Johnson |
Roger Hayden Johnson paints the small mountain villages of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in a style he describes as somewhere between impressionism and expres-sionism. Using vivid colors and juxtaposing light and dark, Johnson creates paintings that catch the viewer’s eye from across the room. “I try to make my paintings emotionally engaging,” he says.
Johnson, who lives in Colorado, is represented by Contemporary Southwest Galleries, Santa Fe, NM; Adagio Galleries, Palm Springs, CA; and Hayden-Hays Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO. —MB
Featured in “Artists to Watch” November 1998