Meet 7 Artists Who Paint the Landscape
ELISA ARANCIBIA
Elisa Arancibia, The Grand View, oil, 18 x 24.
Where do you live and work? I live and work in the city of Ontario, CA, which is located east of Los Angeles and surrounded by the San Bernardino Mountains.
What are your favorite subjects to paint? My favorite subjects to paint are landscapes and seascapes.
How would you describe your style? My style is realism; I’m attempting to portray the subject as it actually appears in real life. I’m rendering specific landscape locations using a limited palette of oil paints, capturing a sense of time and place, and creating a painting with a serene atmosphere. Light, movement, and energy are the main focus of my paintings.
Where did you study art? I started studying art as a side class while studying to be a teacher in the 1990s in my home country of Peru. Later I took painting classes at the “MALI,” the Museo de Arte de Lima. Soon after that, I moved to California and took a variety of workshops taught by accomplished artists.
What is your proudest art accomplishment? My proudest accomplishment was to have my art displayed at Ontario International Airport and to have one of my paintings selected to be the image for the City of Ontario Christmas card for 2020.
When you’re not creating art, what else do you enjoy doing? I love to collect antiques and visit galleries.
Where can collectors find your work? E.A. Art Studio & Gallery, Ontario, CA; www.elisaarancibia.com.
CHARLES LYON
Charles Lyon, Brush Creek, oil, 24 x 32.
Where do you live and work? I live and work in Minneapolis, where I have a studio in an old industrial building with natural light. The harsh climate here gives me plenty of studio time!
What are your favorite subjects to paint? As a representational artist, I am drawn to many subjects, including landscapes, flowers, and portraits. The landscape has the challenges of creating deep space and a relationship between the sky and the earth.
How would you describe your style? My work falls somewhere between realism and naturalism. I am interested in a certain kind of veracity or honesty to the subject, but I also understand that a painting is a fiction, a representation.
Where did you study art? I studied black-and-white photography at both Prescott College in Arizona and Bennington College in Vermont, graduating in 1974. Later I studied drawing and painting at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, earning a master’s degree in fine art in 1999.
What is your proudest art accomplishment? After a residency at Badlands National Park in 2005, I was invited to do a commission: an original ornament for the 2007 White House Christmas Tree, depicting several buffalo and a vista of the Badlands.
When you’re not creating art, what else do you enjoy doing? I love the outdoors. Skiing, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, and surfing have all been passions. Most days I bike to my studio. Also, I have always had flower and vegetable gardens, where I have found subjects for my artwork.
Where can collectors find your work? Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN; www.charleslyonart.com.
JASON STELLA
Jason Stella, Autumn in Ridgway
Where do you live and work? I live in southwestern Missouri with my wife Jennifer. I work full time as a physician assistant in cardiothoracic surgery, which I have been doing for 12 years.
What are your favorite subjects to paint? I love the West and am a fan of geology, so landscapes are what I enjoy painting. Any chance I have to capture wildlife in a natural setting, I will incorporate that into my artwork as well. Occasionally I am able to capture an interesting composition within my job that I will also paint.
How would you describe your style? My painting style is realism.
Where did you study art? I have not had any formal art training. Like all artists I am an ongoing student through observation—of classical and contemporary masters as well as the natural world itself.
What is your proudest art accomplishment? At this point my proudest art accomplishment has been an invitation to exhibit my artwork at local arts council shows.
When you’re not creating art, what else do you enjoy doing? If I’m not creating art, that means I am working at the hospital. If I get a chance to go on vacation, my wife and I travel to different regions in the West as well as the national parks. It all comes back around to art in some way, either plein-air sketching or reference gathering.
Where can collectors find your work? www.jasonstellafineart.com.
JILL GLASSMAN
Jill Glassman, A Place for Reflection, oil, 16 x 20.
Where do you live and work? I live on the Delmarva Peninsula just outside Ocean City, MD.
What are your favorite subjects to paint? Delmarva provides a wealth of subjects with its marshes, rivers, the Atlantic Ocean, quaint small towns, and colorful tourist attractions. I love painting architecture, and I’ve recently developed a love for painting figures.
How would you describe your style? I started out thinking that I must duplicate exactly what I see. Then in 2017 I began to paint en plein air, and it dramatically changed the way I see and paint. You must be quick to catch the light, and it really loosened up my painting process to a more impressionistic style. Ultimately my goal right now is to say more with less.
Where did you study art? I don’t have an art degree, but I have taken workshops and classes from artists such as John Ebersberger, David Lussier, Stan Sperlak, and Tim Beall. I was attending mentoring sessions with artist Nancy Tankersley prior to the pandemic.
What is your proudest art accomplishment? In 2020 I was juried into Plein Air Easton, as well as two other respected plein-air events, Paint Annapolis and Paint Grand Traverse.
When you’re not creating art, what else do you enjoy doing? If I don’t have a paintbrush or a pastel in my hand, my nose is usually in a book. Or I’ll be cooking or baking. My husband and I have five grandchildren whom we love to spoil rotten.
Where can collectors find your work? The Framing Corner, Ocean City, MD.
THOMAS BULLARD
Thomas Bullard, Dreams That Should Have Lasted, oil/metal leaf, 57 x 57.
Where do you live and work? I am fortunate to have retired early from a long career in public safety, after which I settled in the East Bay Hills overlooking San Francisco Bay, the city, and the surrounding area. These exceptional views provide an abundance of inspiration.
What are your favorite subjects to paint? I enjoy doing large paintings depicting open spaces with strong emphasis on clouds and the atmosphere. I try to portray a sense of drama, mystery, and solitude.
How would you describe your style? My paintings frequently illustrate the atmosphere in real terms while land is portrayed in abstraction—this allows the viewers to determine their own sense of place.
Where did you study art? I studied oil painting at the University of California, Berkeley. While I was there, I was noticed by an art professor who taught at San Francisco Art Institute, and he invited me to join him and some of his students, providing me with greater variety and freedom to express myself through my paintings.
What is your proudest art accomplishment? My proudest moment was when two of my paintings were selected for a group show at San Francisco’s de Young Museum.
When you’re not creating art, what else do you enjoy doing? My home is located just outside of the East Bay regional parks, and I spend a great deal of time going on rugged hikes and climbs, exploring various trails and forests. On some of the less-intense hikes, I enjoy the company of my Labrador Retriever, Zack.
Where can collectors find your work? www.thomasbullardfineart.com.
FARLEY LEWIS
Farley Lewis, Frosted Moment, acrylic, 12 x 16.
Where do you live and work? I live in Springfield, MO, with my wife of 29 years. I paint and teach workshops all over the Ozarks and other places I travel, and I lead an artists’ co-op gallery in Springfield.
What are your favorite subjects to paint? I love to paint scenes that show the interaction between people and nature: bridges, hay bales, barns, and homes, with a backdrop of trees and hills. And I really enjoy painting rivers and streams.
How would you describe your style? I call it messy realism—up close, you can see paint splatters, rag smears, and a wide variety of brush strokes. But from a distance, I want them to retain a fairly high degree of realism.
Where did you study art? I got a bachelor’s degree in fine art at Missouri State University. I ran a sign shop and design studio for 14 years, did a lot of murals all over the world, and ended up finding my niche in landscape painting and instruction. I still take workshops myself when I can.
What is your proudest art accomplishment? In 2018 I did my first plein-air painting, and since then I’ve competed in 12 plein-air events. I have won awards in 11 of these events, including three Best of Shows. I’m proud of that track record.
When you’re not creating art, what else do you enjoy doing? I love to travel, especially with my wife and any or all of my five grown kids.
Where can collectors find your work? Fresh Gallery, Springfield, MO; Hawthorn Galleries, Springfield, MO; www.farleylewis.com.
STUART W. BURTON
Stuart W. Burton, Sunset Cliffs, oil, 20 x 30.
Where do you live and work? I live in La Mesa, CA, just east of San Diego. I own a property in San Diego where I have a rental house and where I built my 2,400-square-foot, post-and-beam studio. I also have a smaller studio and beach house in Baja California, Mexico.
What are your favorite subjects to paint? My primary subjects are the deserts of the Southwest, California, and Baja California; the Pacific Coast from Cabo San Lucas to Canada; and the mountains of California and Colorado. I also paint in the southern states, particularly Alabama, where my wife is from and where we are restoring a house built at the end of the Civil War.
How would you describe your style? Contemporary impressionism.
Where did you study art? I have a degree in painting and printmaking from California State University, San Diego.
What is your proudest art accomplishment? In the early 1990s I designed all of the art for a Methodist church in San Diego. It included sandblasted windows, a 19-foot stained-glass cross, carved entry doors, mosaics, and large paintings. In 1998 I was a founder of the Art Academy of San Diego; in 2008 I took the school over in its entirety. We are now ending our 22nd year of teaching drawing, painting, and printmaking.
When you’re not creating art, what else do you enjoy doing? We have horses, and I ride two to three times a week. I also like camping, hiking, fishing, and overlanding in the deserts and mountains.
Where can collectors find your work? www.stuartburtonart.com.
This story appeared in the February 2021 issue of Southwest Art magazine.