Artists
A Utah native, I am always in awe with the incredibly beautiful place I am blessed to live in.
I enjoy the outdoors—plein-air painting is a lot about surviving the elements. Feeling the heat or cold, the bugs, the wind, all somehow become translated into the paintings. I also work in the studio, but all my work is based on time I have spent outside.
Call was born and raised in Ogden, Utah where he raised his three children. He still resides there today painting the local landscape. Call has been mostly influenced by artists Harrison Groutage and Scott Christensen. His painterly scenes range from the fields of Wanship to the desert of Saint George. He paints because he feels the need to express himself through art. He drives until he a sees a scene that strikes him through the subtle light and the mood it creates. Each piece he strives to capture this light and mood, making not just a place, but a moment. He uses a variety of technique, starting with thin layers and building up the paint to create a desired effect. Sometimes he will scratch back into the piece with the edge of his palette knife, leaving delicate marks, which represent the trunks of trees.
I prefer process over accuracy.
I prefer to let the painting evolve through risk, through effort, through play, through frustration, through sensation, through recollections and a reconciling of opposites.
I prefer my painting to be a record of the internal instead of the external, not to imitate a fixed surface reality, but render a spirit and movement.
I prefer to always seek creative knowledge that is transformative and universal through the process of art making.
Travis Crowther was born and raised in rural northern Utah where from the time he was young, he was painting and drawing.
Dan Cummings, owner of Spectrum Studios in SLC, has been a professional artist for over 25 years.
Though I had a great foundation of painting and art in my younger years, I set it aside for other interests until picking it up again a few years ago. I still find myself disbelieving my tremendous success and am always surprised by the rush of pure bliss I continue to feel pursuing this passion.
As an artist, what captures my attention is the simplicity of everyday instances. Light falling on snow, the colors and textures of an old building, people engaged in activity or quietly preoccupied, the solitude of a mountain stream or the grandeur of a desert plateau. Everywhere I go I see a possible work of art.
Jerry Hancock creates breathtaking works of art with a versatile palette. He has won numerous awards and been featured in National publications. It should come as no surprise to collectors that much of Jerry’s subject matter reflects his surroundings, his ranch, Antelope Island, Jackson Hole and the Native American Pow Wow’s he attends. “I enjoy the beauty of country life, he says. There is a ‘spirit’ and sense of peacefulness that is seen in the nature of domestic life,” he says.
Glen Hawkins, is a native Utah artist who considers Utah's diverse natural beauty a source of endless inspiration. The artist now resides in Clinton where he owns a home and studio.
Jeff is a Northern Utah artist. A contemporary realist, his style is a unique blend of tonal and luminous effects that render soothing, peaceful images.
David W. Jackson is multi-talented and proficient in several art mediums. A native of Ogden, Utah, David’s interest in art began at an early age and he has been working as a professional artist for over thirty years. He received a bachelor of science degree from Weber State University and a master of fine arts degree through Utah State University. He taught high school art for 27 years, retiring in the spring of 2000 to devote more time to his art.
As a contemporary landscape painter, my work is a conscious play of mood, light and color, but as a naturalist raised and rooted in the diverse landscapes of western America, a painting means more than that to me.
My inspiration and passion for art come from a nostalgic and spiritual connection to the Southwest.
Desmond O'Hagan was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, and was raised in the United States. He enjoys working in several mediums including watercolor, acrylics, charcoal, pen-and-ink, and monotypes; but his primary focus is pastels and oils.
I began painting outside, mainly in the mountains, due to my love of wilderness. The beauty, the peace, the energy of ever-transitory life; it gave me a desire to create and express greater than any other experience I have known.
Carol RuffFranza Creating Carol Ruff Franza was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and spent her childhood in the South. Her fine arts education began at Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida and continued with the Atlanta School of Art and Callanwolde in Atlanta, Georgia. Living in eleven states and exploring many beautiful countries and islands allowed Ruff Franza to experience a variety of historically significant art work and contrasting cultures.
Artist Steve Songer resides in Huntsville, Utah, where he and his wife, Pat, raised their six children. The area surrounding his home in this mountain valley has inspired many of his paintings through the years.
Statement on Surrealism
For me surrealism is painting the landscapes of the mind. I do my best to be open to the collective, allowing the viewer to connect with the paintings giving the paintings their purpose. I try to keep personal intent out of the work, praying for each painting to have its own life and journey, to become unique with its own message for the individual looking. With each painting created I do however want it to surpass the last one finished, following my philosophy that today can be the best day ever if we can simply get out of our way and let it happen naturally. I like to think I’m getting better at representing everything and everyone.
Kerry Transtrum is a well-known glass artist whose favorite discipline is kiln-formed glass. He started working in the glass medium approximately 22 years ago and became fascinated with forming and shaping glass in a kiln.
