Guided by the light
John Huerta Jr., The Mountain Awakens, oil, 16 x 20.
This story was featured in the August 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
ONE WINTER MORNING, as John Huerta Jr. pulled into the parking lot at Ogden-Weber Technical College, where he teaches graphic design, he instinctively glanced toward Ben Lomond Mountain. The prominent, 9,712-foot peak rises up from the Wasatch Range just north of Ogden, UT, adorning the skyline. When going to and from work, says Huerta, “I’ll glance over to see what the mountain is doing that day. Sometimes it’s shrouded in clouds, and sometimes it has a beautiful orange color at sunset. On this particular day, a winter storm had just broken, and the light on the mountain was just unreal.”
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- John Huerta Jr., Inferno, oil, 36 x 24.
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- John Huerta Jr., Kolob Monolith, oil, 16 x 20.
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- John Huerta Jr., Ascension, oil, 36 x 24.
Most of the mountainside and the tiny, slumbering houses in the valley below remained cloaked in frosty blue shadows, but a bright shaft of sunlight illuminated Ben Lomond’s snow-capped peak, prompting the artist to snap some reference photos. “You just mark those days when you see something so inspiring,” says Huerta, whose resulting painting, THE MOUNTAIN AWAKENS, garnered the BoldBrush Award in March. “Always with my work, I’m interested in expressing the qualities of light.”
Trained in illustration and graphic design, Huerta worked in those fields for several years before he tried his hand at painting en plein air about 15 years ago. The experience “reinvigorated” his love for the landscape, says the artist, adding, “For quite a while, I painted almost exclusively en plein air because there was such a joy to being out in the field and recording something spontaneously.” Challenged to keep pace with the changing light, Huerta also learned to paint swiftly. Gradually, he relinquished his “meticulous, detail-oriented” approach to painting and began employing looser, bolder brushwork. “I became fascinated with the thickness of the paint and how it could add texture and drama, and how the aggressiveness of the brush strokes could add excitement and movement,” he explains.
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- John Huerta Jr., Dramatic Entrance, oil, 18 x 24.
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- John Huerta Jr., January Light, oil, 18 x 24.
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- John Huerta Jr., Stone Sentries, oil, 24 x 36.
Today the Utah native reaps the benefits of working both in his studio and outdoors, viewing his studio time as an opportunity to “infuse” his plein-air observations with additional artistic interpretation and emotion. He travels to favorite painting locales throughout the state, but inspiration abounds around his home in Ogden, too. “Within 20 minutes, I can be in a different world, from mountain vistas and remote ponds to beautiful fields,” says Huerta. “It’s amazing to see the different faces of the landscape as the seasons change.” —Kim Agricola
representation
Canyon Gallery, Kaysville, UT; www.huertafineart.com.
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- John Huerta Jr., The Silver Thread, oil, 18 x 24.
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- John Huerta Jr., Towers of the Virgin, oil, 24 x 36.
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- John Huerta Jr., Vestige, oil, 24 x 24.
This story was featured in the August 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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