By Bonnie Gangelhoff
In 2005, California painter Kevin Courter won top awards at the Carmel Art Festival in Carmel, CA, and at the Telluride Plein Air show in Telluride, CO. His spare compositions and color palettes bring to mind works by early California Impressionists like Maurice Braun. Courter, who lives in the San Francisco area, is fond of capturing environments close to home, including picturesque scenes of Marin County and the Sacramento Valley.
Since beginning to paint landscapes in 1997, Courter says his style has evolved from creating highly detailed renderings to capturing the spirit of a place. “I wasn’t having much fun painting at first,” he recalls. “Now, when I paint, I want to convey a sense of peace and quietness in my works. It’s a beautiful world out there, and I want people to see it.”
Courter enjoys exploring new locales and brings a tonalist’s eye to his paintings, preferring to work within a close range of colors. For inspiration, he turns to the landscape itself—ranging from the grandeur of Yosemite National Park to a small lily pad floating on a pond—and to works by contemporary Montana-based painter Russell Chatham. Courter is represented by Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art, San Antonio, TX; New Masters Gallery, Carmel, CA; The Garden Gallery, Half Moon Bay, CA; Fraser Fine Art, San Francisco, CA; Firehouse Gallery, Sausalito, CA; and Sekula’s Fine Antiques, Sacramento, CA.
Featured in “Artists to Watch” March 2006