Artists to watch
ROBERT BISSELL Bears snooze. Ants eat apples. Rabbits sniff butterflies. Welcome to the imaginative world of California painter Robert Bissell. His
Bonnie Gangelhoff and Alice Herrin / Southwest Art
Jun 01, 2003
ROBERT BISSELL
Bears snooze. Ants eat apples. Rabbits sniff butterflies. Welcome to the imaginative world of California painter Robert Bissell. His animal allegories evoke both the human disposition and condition. They cause viewers to reflect on nature, the environment, life, death, and renewal. The animals are frequently larger than life, allowing the viewer to examine a scene through the creature`s eyes. There are no humans in Bissell`s fantasy universe. "I believe art has to disarm the viewer before it can inform," Bissell says. "Using the `rabbit`s-eye perspective,` where everything is observed from an animal`s point of view, is a way for humans to look at the world in a different way."
The painter`s vast landscapes also reveal the power of nature and our place in it. His settings are frequently derived from Romantic-era landscape painting, in which the artist`s intention was to idealize and paint a world where man is in harmony with nature. "The very fact that we now know this to be a false vision seemed to fit with my own intentions to elevate the animal`s importance and disarm viewers at the same time," Bissell says. He is represented by Sandra Erickson Fine Art Gallery, Healdsburg, CA; Visions West Gallery, Bozeman and Livingston, MT; and Lara Sydney Gallery, Portland, OR.
MARY ROBERSON
Looking at one of Mary Roberson`s wildlife paintings is like looking at a day in the life of her subject. In many of her works, an animal-whether it`s a moose, bear, elk, or wolf-stares out at the viewer from the center of the painting. Down below, and frequently to the sides of the dominating figure, are smaller scenes of the animal walking, hunting, and interacting with its environment. "My paintings are stories, they`re what I see when I`m out camping and watching the animals in the wild," Roberson says. "I don`t just see a black bear-I see it climbing a tree or moving with its mates."
Roberson has been painting professionally for about 10 years. To get ideas for her paintings, she often sets out on long camping trips in the wilderness near her home in Idaho. "I go where the animals are and observe them-when I see the animals` interaction with the land and each other, it`s the ultimate bliss," she says.
Lately, her works have included an element of humor. "I`m lightening up about myself, so it shows in my work," she says. "I`m having more and more fun all the time because my work is becoming spontaneous and light." In July, Roberson`s works are part of a plein-air show at Kneeland Gallery in Ketchum, ID. Roberson is also represented by Meyer Gallery, Park City, UT, and Jackson, WY, and Augustine Gallery, Stateline, NV.
ANNE PEYTON
One of Arizonan Anne Peyton`s earliest artistic memories is drawing pictures of the birds that flocked to the backyard feeders at her grandparents` house. Birds may have been her first artistic subject, but she took an unusual detour while in high school, when she became interested in auto racing. After college, she spent almost 25 years working as one of the top motor-sports artists in the country.
In 1999, inspired by the approaching new millennium, she decided it was time to make a change. "I`d been watching birds for a long time, and I also train birds of prey at Liberty Wildlife, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Scottsdale," she says. "It seemed like a natural progression for me to paint them." Almost immediately after switching, her detailed renderings of our feathered friends attracted notice. Her work has appeared in the Birds in Art show in Wausau, WI, and Arts for the Parks in Jackson, WY, and she is a member of the Society of Animal Artists. To achieve her amazingly detailed compositions, Peyton still spends a lot of time watching birds, both at her volunteer job at Liberty Wildlife and out in the wild. "I`ll sit on a rock some place or in the dirt with binoculars and watch their behavior," she says. "It`s amazing how so many things come to you when you`re still." Her work is represented at www.annepeytonart.com.
ILLUSTRATIONS
AM BY ROBERT BISSELL
ALMOST A DOZEN BY MARY ROBERSON
STILLED STRIDE BY ANNE PEYTON
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Jun 2003. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.
PROQUEST-CSA, LLC- MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR TIMELINESS OF THE LICENSED MATERIALS OR ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
Bears snooze. Ants eat apples. Rabbits sniff butterflies. Welcome to the imaginative world of California painter Robert Bissell. His animal allegories evoke both the human disposition and condition. They cause viewers to reflect on nature, the environment, life, death, and renewal. The animals are frequently larger than life, allowing the viewer to examine a scene through the creature`s eyes. There are no humans in Bissell`s fantasy universe. "I believe art has to disarm the viewer before it can inform," Bissell says. "Using the `rabbit`s-eye perspective,` where everything is observed from an animal`s point of view, is a way for humans to look at the world in a different way."
The painter`s vast landscapes also reveal the power of nature and our place in it. His settings are frequently derived from Romantic-era landscape painting, in which the artist`s intention was to idealize and paint a world where man is in harmony with nature. "The very fact that we now know this to be a false vision seemed to fit with my own intentions to elevate the animal`s importance and disarm viewers at the same time," Bissell says. He is represented by Sandra Erickson Fine Art Gallery, Healdsburg, CA; Visions West Gallery, Bozeman and Livingston, MT; and Lara Sydney Gallery, Portland, OR.
MARY ROBERSON
Looking at one of Mary Roberson`s wildlife paintings is like looking at a day in the life of her subject. In many of her works, an animal-whether it`s a moose, bear, elk, or wolf-stares out at the viewer from the center of the painting. Down below, and frequently to the sides of the dominating figure, are smaller scenes of the animal walking, hunting, and interacting with its environment. "My paintings are stories, they`re what I see when I`m out camping and watching the animals in the wild," Roberson says. "I don`t just see a black bear-I see it climbing a tree or moving with its mates."
Roberson has been painting professionally for about 10 years. To get ideas for her paintings, she often sets out on long camping trips in the wilderness near her home in Idaho. "I go where the animals are and observe them-when I see the animals` interaction with the land and each other, it`s the ultimate bliss," she says.
Lately, her works have included an element of humor. "I`m lightening up about myself, so it shows in my work," she says. "I`m having more and more fun all the time because my work is becoming spontaneous and light." In July, Roberson`s works are part of a plein-air show at Kneeland Gallery in Ketchum, ID. Roberson is also represented by Meyer Gallery, Park City, UT, and Jackson, WY, and Augustine Gallery, Stateline, NV.
ANNE PEYTON
One of Arizonan Anne Peyton`s earliest artistic memories is drawing pictures of the birds that flocked to the backyard feeders at her grandparents` house. Birds may have been her first artistic subject, but she took an unusual detour while in high school, when she became interested in auto racing. After college, she spent almost 25 years working as one of the top motor-sports artists in the country.
In 1999, inspired by the approaching new millennium, she decided it was time to make a change. "I`d been watching birds for a long time, and I also train birds of prey at Liberty Wildlife, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Scottsdale," she says. "It seemed like a natural progression for me to paint them." Almost immediately after switching, her detailed renderings of our feathered friends attracted notice. Her work has appeared in the Birds in Art show in Wausau, WI, and Arts for the Parks in Jackson, WY, and she is a member of the Society of Animal Artists. To achieve her amazingly detailed compositions, Peyton still spends a lot of time watching birds, both at her volunteer job at Liberty Wildlife and out in the wild. "I`ll sit on a rock some place or in the dirt with binoculars and watch their behavior," she says. "It`s amazing how so many things come to you when you`re still." Her work is represented at www.annepeytonart.com.
ILLUSTRATIONS
AM BY ROBERT BISSELL
ALMOST A DOZEN BY MARY ROBERSON
STILLED STRIDE BY ANNE PEYTON
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Jun 2003. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.
PROQUEST-CSA, LLC- MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR TIMELINESS OF THE LICENSED MATERIALS OR ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
