By Bonnie Gangelhoff
As an artist Doug Fryer feels passionately about the things he paints. “These feelings deepen as I work through the painting,” Fryer says. “I enter a state of mind that is beautiful and meaningful. That’s the state of mind I want the viewer to enter, so that they feel and think some of the same things that I did when I was painting.”
| SNOW ACROSS THE SEVIER RIVER VALLEY, OIL, 42 X 80 |
Indeed, the accomplished painter is a master at creating atmosphere in his works through his choice of colors as well as with abstract shapes and patterns. His inspiration often comes from the terrain surrounding his home in the charming, picturesque town of Spring City in central Utah. The farming community is set in a valley that sprawls right up to the base of towering mountains.
“There’s a wonderful combination of nature and agriculture here,” Fryer explains. “I like combining and contrasting these elements. And I like exploring man’s influence on nature and nature’s influence on man.”
Like many landscape artists, he feels a spiritual connection to his subject matter—a sensation he strives to convey to his viewers. While his scenes seem almost mystical at times, harking from another time or universe, they also may be grounded with manmade objects such as weathered barns and farmhouses.
Fryer also turns his considerable talents to figurative works, which he finds more difficult. “They are far more complex in their forms and psychologically,” he says. “It’s just more challenging when you paint a living, breathing human being.” Whether he is capturing a farm or a figure, he believes that art—for him as well as for collectors—offer poetic insights into the human condition.
He is represented by Marshall Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ; Meyer Gallery, Santa Fe, NM;
Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland, WA.
Upcoming Shows
Participant, Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale, Denver, CO, January 10-25.
Solo show, Marshall Gallery, February 12-March 12.
Solo show, Meyer Gallery, June 12-25.
Featured in January 2009