The space between
Donnie Tapp, Monster Ballads, oil, 30 x 50.
Sometimes it’s not until one leaves and then returns to familiar surroundings that he or she begins to see them with fresh eyes. That has been the experience of painter Donnie Tapp, a native of rural eastern Idaho, whose current series of work focuses on scenery around his hometown. “It’s a place I had to learn to love,” Tapp admits, “a wide-open and sometimes even empty plain that inhabits the space between more broadly appealing valleys and mountain ranges. Here the barns, silos, sheds, cellars, and fields that so often delineate farming towns seem to defy an otherwise infinite backdrop.”
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- Donnie Tapp, Calm on the Valley, oil, 12 x 6.
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- Donnie Tapp, The Wine We Drink, oil, 20 x 10.
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- Donnie Tapp, And It’s Still Alright, oil, 12 x 6.
These subjects in the upper Snake River Plain where Tapp grew up have not changed much physically since he was a child. As an artist who is continually learning how to convey the subtle qualities of light, atmosphere, and time of day, Tapp realizes that telling these stories from a place of close association is what gives them visual depth and appeal.
Tapp earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio art from Brigham Young University—Idaho and just graduated from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco with a Master of Fine Arts in oil painting. He won a Graduate Landscape Award at the Academy of Art University’s Spring Show this year and has established consistent gallery representation—confirmation that he’s on the right path and that his landscape work has made a strong impression.
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- Donnie Tapp, Talking in Code, oil, 20 x 25.
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- Donnie Tapp, Choir Vandals, oil, 9 x 16.
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- Donnie Tapp, Caves, oil, 12 x 24.
Even so, Tapp believes that being a lifelong student is one of the great appeals of his chosen profession. “I’m excited to keep growing and progressing as an artist throughout my life,” he says. “I feel that being an artist means being a student, and I love learning. I enjoy being able to put a recent painting next to something I did a few years back and see where I’ve grown, and I look forward to being able to see that same kind of growth as I move forward.” –Allison Malafronte
representation
Meyer Gallery, Park City, UT; www.donnietapp.com.
This story appeared in the October/November 2021 issue of Southwest Art magazine.