Featured Artist… Josh Clare!

On July 1, 2013December 8, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

White by Josh Clare / Image: Josh Clare Facebook

WHAAAT?!!! Are you kidding me? Josh Clare… artist. A young artist with incredible talent. Each and every painting is so fresh, there is a clearness to his paintings (if that makes sense?). They are so pure. The combination of the light hitting the white barn, the color of the mountains and that perfect green in the trees behind the barn is so perfect. The colors are gorgeous. The subject matter, clear and focused without being tight… there is such a fine line between being focused and being tight. (I’m not poo-pooing artists who paint realistically, it is just a different painting style, obviously, meant to be realistic)! A definite pat on the back is in order for whoever maintains Josh’s website, very nice!

Read more about Joshua Clare from his website:

Born in 1982 and raised in the Rocky Mountains of Utah, Josh has been interested in art ever since he can remember; but it was when his fifth-grade teacher sincerely complimented him on an art project that he became an artist. He says concerning that defining moment, “a large part of being good at something is believing your good at it—and I’ve believed in myself ever since.”

Josh graduated in 2007 from BYU-Idaho with a BFA in Illustration and immediately began to sell his work in galleries. He currently resides in Queen Creek, AZ with his wife Cambree and their son, Nathan.

WHY I PAINT

“Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the least of these hath seen God moving in his majesty and power. I say unto you, he hath seen him; nevertheless, he who came unto his own was not comprehended” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:47-48).

There is no artist greater than God, and no beauty more perfect than His creations—His art; to see any, even the least of them, is to see God himself, “moving in His majesty and power.” There have been times in my life when I have done more than merely look—times when I’ve seen. Those moments are sacred and precious to me, and I desire to share them. I want to see more clearly, I want to comprehend more fully—and I want to help others do the same. That’s why I paint.

My aim as an artist is not to redefine beauty—no one can do that—but to discover for myself, through the Spirit of Truth, those eternal laws that govern it, and obey them.

If I am anything good, if there is anything in my art that is good—it’s because of and thanks to God. As often as I forget it, I know that I am nothing of myself, and I’m deeply grateful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to be an artist.

Peruse Josh’s website… Read his blog and I’ll catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured Artist… Brian Stewart!

On November 9, 2012December 8, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

Isn’t this the sweetest painting? This was done by artist Brian Stewart. I love that house… what a wonderful place. A magical green, the light hitting the house, the person on the porch, the gingerbread on the house, the flowers on the porch, it all comes together and makes a very nice painting. I like how Brian has descriptions on his website… here’s the one for this painting (on Brian’s website under “Plein Air”).

Sunday Morning / Nicollet Island
Nicollet Island is an inner city oasis that has many fine, older Victorian style homes. Some grand, some quaint. Loaded with Ginger bread, these homes were in neglect for many years, but in the last few years people have been slowly restoring them to their original beauty. One more reason why the Riverfront is one of the more desirable areas in the Twin Cites. This Sunday morning scene looked like a nice way to start the day. 12 x 9, oil on canvas on board in a turn-of-the-Century style gilded frame.

One more, well, because I think it’s so interesting…

Where Stars Were Made
This old, overgrown and abandoned motel is on the Pacific Coast Highway in California just as you enter into Malibu. Since the 30ʼs it has been a favorite of fast laners, rock stars and the Hollywood crowd. A trip to the beach wouldn’t have been complete without a stop there. I’m drawn to this kind of subject matter because it is so rapidly disappearing from our landscape and I look at it and think “If walls could talk”. 12 x 16”, oil on canvas on board in a gilded turn-of-the-Century style frame.

I want to go see this in person! Can you imagine fixing these up??! Brian’s description underneath image… I wonder who stayed there? YES, if walls could talk!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

All images: stew-art.com

Featured Artist… JULIA RALSTON!

On March 9, 2012February 24, 2025 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

Grandfather Carlson’s Place by Julia Ralston

I have my husband to thank for this one… he knows I’m always on the lookout for artists, recipes, ideas… and he suggested Julia! Well, thank you Fred… soon I’m going to have to change the name of this blog to include you…!

Julia has fabulous wide, loose strokes, nice and free. She’s able to leave out a lot of the little detail that ends up making a painting look fussy… I love that about her paintings! Here in Charleston, Julia is represented by the Atelier Gallery (also in Asheville, NC! Note: Link is no longer viable so it’s been removed)… so check her out… if you aren’t in the area give her website a look, you won’t be disappointed!

Summer Light by Julia Ralston

A blip about Julia from her website…

Julia Ralston was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. As a teenager she was often found reading or drawing and toting a sketchbook and journal to camp and family vacations. Encouraged by her artistic maternal grandmother and an enthusiastic high school art teacher, Julia entered Indiana University as a Fine Arts major, graduated in 1981 with a B.S. in Finance, and went to work for a major bank in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Julia travels frequently and in each place she gathers reference material for her paintings. Working en plein air and in the studio using her own photographs and sketches, Julia’s work expresses movement and color using loose brushwork and a variety of application methods. This vitality translates well to a variety of subject matter. Julia has studied with Scott Christensen, Stuart Shils, and Peggy Kroll-Roberts to name a few, and well as with her mentor, Andrew Braitman. She maintains a summer studio in the North Carolina mountains and winters in the South Carolina lowcountry. If she’s not in the studio, you can find her out on the trail stalking birds and new compositions.

“The painting process is a game for me; making decisions using value, color and variety of line appeals to me in a way that wordsmiths feel about writing poetry or crafting a story. I try to be attentive to nuance of light and sense of place… it’s fantastic when brush stroke and color resurrect a memory or transport to a particular field or country road.”

Great work Julia! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Links updated 2/24/25