Painting visual poems
This story was featured in the December 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Order the Southwest Art magazine December 2012 print edition here, or purchase the Southwest Art magazine December 2012 digital download here. Or simply subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!
For David Grossmann, the act of painting is more about poetry than prose. The Colorado landscape painter is far more interested in capturing the mood or emotion experienced in a scene than rendering every detail. In fact, Grossmann’s impressionistic, abstracted style is his trademark, whether he is depicting the rugged beauty of Patagonia or a pristine snowy landscape in the Rocky Mountains.
As this story was going to press, Grossmann had just received word that his painting LOWERING SUN had been accepted into the Oil Painters of America’s Western Regional Exhibition, which opened in October at Gallery 1261 in Denver, CO. The painting is part of a series featuring aspen trees that Grossmann is currently creating. In this particular piece he captures the end of a day in the town of Twin Lakes. “I remember climbing up onto a hill, looking out over the landscape, and thinking I didn’t have enough time because the sun was sinking low in the sky,” he says. “But I really wanted to capture the way the sun was glowing among the trees.”
Another painting in Grossmann’s aspen series was juried into the American Impressionist Society’s national exhibition, held in November at Eckert & Ross Fine Art in Indianapolis, IN. Inclusion in such shows is helping launch the career of this up-and-coming, 28-year-old artist. It wasn’t that long ago that Grossmann was studying painting at the Colorado Academy of Art in Boulder when the school closed unexpectedly in 2008. Grossmann decided to continue his art education with Denver-area landscape artist Jay Moore and enrolled in an intensive workshop that included critiques and advice about the business side of fine art.
Since his early student days, landscapes have always been his subject of choice. “The deepest reason is that when I am out in nature, that’s when I experience God’s presence,” Grossmann says. “And when I paint en plein air it gives me the opportunity to absorb a sense of place and a sense of being there. I hope that sense of place and the emotion I feel when outdoors comes through to the viewers.” —Bonnie Gangelhoff
Featured in the December 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art magazine December 2012 digital download
Southwest Art magazine December 2012 print edition
Or subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!
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