Landscape art is a large genre of art dealing with the depiction of natural scenery. This depiction of the landscape depends on the artists personal preference. Subject matter of landscape art includes mountains, valleys, rivers and forests. Sky is often an important feature included in the piece, and weather is usually a component.
This gallery shows a variety of paintings of three different artists: Norman Lowell, Catherine Pier and Wu Changan. The diversity of their backgrounds and the styles of art between these three artists painters is very apparent when viewing these works, as well as as the use of various mediums but they all are inspired by the outdoors. Each of these artists has as immense appreciation and love for the natural world and this love is reflected in each of their landscape pieces. The natural world has sparked their imagination to create these breath taking pieces. Take a tour through the biographies and famous works by these artists. Enjoy!
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Norman Lowell is an artist who came up to Alaska over 50 years ago to live and paint. He wanted to gain inspiration from Alaska and he found an abundance of it! Normal Lowell lived and painted in a small, one bedroom cabin and raised a family with his wife Libby. He paints with a variety of mediums, mainly oil and acrylic. Now Norman Lowell and his wife enjoy giving personal tours in their gallery which is located near their original homestead (Along the Sterling Highway, a few miles north of Anchor Point).
“Fifty years ago I came to Alaska to paint the ‘Wild North Country’. Alaska captured me and has inspired me all these years. The beauty and wonder of Alaska have carried my imagination to its heights and moved me to express my impressions in the art of painting.” – Normal Lowell
Normal and Libby Lowell next to their original homestead in Alaska
Spirit of the North~ Oil ~ 2000 ~ Size: 84″ x 168″ ~ Painted in Alaska
This painting is perhaps one of Norman Lowell’s most admired pieces. It is a large painting that hung on a large wall at the end of his gallery. It shows beauty but rather than being peaceful, the northern lights seem to be rushing across the sky shedding light upon this frigid and unforgiving landscape. As I mentioned earlier this is a large painting, yet it contains a great amount of detail with the northern lights and the frozen river seemingly disappear at the same point. Whether a person has seen the northern lights are not, this painting is sure to impress!
The Glacier Wall- Child’s Glacier ~ Oil ~ 1995-1996 ~ Size: 108″ x 72″
The Glacier Wall- Child’s Glacier is a powerful landscape painting . This painting depicts movement as a sheer force of tons of ice come crashing down. It is a reminder of how small humans are in comparison to nature. I appreciate this landscape painting most for its powerful subject matter and accurate detail.
Place of Rest ~ Oil, Rendered with brush ~ 1993 ~ Size: 90″ x 78″
Place of Rest is a serene landscape painting depicting a glade, a stream, and a waterfall. This painting is certainly an Alaskan ideal. Lowell was inspired to depict a peaceful place showing a such an ideal that I wonder if this is a real place. I really like how the foreground is enclosed in this painting offering a place of protection and rest. The water is clear and cold, fed by a small waterfall.
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Catherine Pier is a well known artist and has painted professionally for 20 years. She is a self taught artists and paints with a variety of mediums but pastels and sandpaper are what she prefers and the results of her art contain a lively, refractive, textual quality rarely seen. Piers art is very sought after and she is currently working on paintings for Oman Royal Estates. Pier is currently a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Guild of Wiltshire Artists. She has been inspired by her home, the peace country sides of Cotsolds and Wiltshire are her main inpiration.
Pier’s prefered medium, pastels
“I have had a love of nature all my life and walking in the surrounding countryside, with a dog at my side, is one of my greatest pleasures. I have always been creative and I started painting because I wanted to bring the magical tranquil feeling I felt on my walks, back into my home. I paint instinctively and my hands follow my heart. When I look at a finished painting I want to feel as if I could step into it and feel the sun on my face and the rustle of the trees, the pure magic of the landscape. I paint for myself and I am extremely lucky that my work is so sought after”.~ Catherine Pier
View towards the Marlborough Downs ~pastel~ Size:(framed) 14″x 25″~ Great Britain
The colors are wonderful blended, just enough to soften the image but not enough to remove the minute details put into this painting. Like Norman Lowell, Pier has been inspired by these places of beauty. She paints places of tranquility more often then Lowell. She brings an interesting perceptive to this painting with her style and use of pastels. Not only do the pastels bring a softeness to the painting but they provide a cheerful aspect as well.
View from Buscot Lock ~ pastel ~ Size 13″ x 21″
View from Buscot Lock is another great landscape painting of Pier’s! This is a wide open scene composed of mostly water and sky. I appreciate this painting most for the reflective quality of the water. This painting is also very light because pastels are used. Normally I do not appreciate pastels because I feel they are too light but Pier works very effectively with the pastels, focusing on the lightness of the sky and water and blending the colors slightly with sandpaper. As in most of Pier’s artwork, the weather plays a large part in the mood of the painting and the weather is simply blissful!
View more of Pier’s work at http://www.birdbrookarts.co.uk/landscape-paintings/original-landscape-paintings.htm
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Wu Changan is a retired art professor who taught Chinese painting for 25 years. Some of his works illustrate the “splashed ink” technique whereby details are added after ink has been randomly splashed on paper, thus transforming the work into an evocative landscape. Changan adopts a completely new style compared to the artist we have viewed previously because the technique he starts out with is a little more of an abstract style with the “spashed ink” technique, whereas the previous two artists were trying to develope a realistic looking piece of art.
Untitled: Landscape ~ 2004 ~ Ink ~ Watercolors–Chinese Description: hanging scroll; ink and color on paper; signed by the artist; two artist’s seals.
I do not know what Changun’s intent for this painting was but it appears to be chaotic and it is still very much a lanscape painting. In the forground there is a house sounded by trees. The background is something else to reconcile with. If anyone has any ideas about what is happening in the background let me know what you think! The background has cliff like landscape qualities. Blue fire appears to be emanating from the cliff side and the entire painting appears to be caught in some sort of storm, perhaps a hurricane. This is truely an evocative image!
Living by the waterfall ~ 2004 ~ Ink ~ Watercolors–Chinese
Description: hanging scroll; ink and color on paper; signed by the artist; two artist’s seals.
Water plummets into an abyss. A white haze rises from the depths. Sheer cliffs stand as a back drop against the landscape. This painting is another reason why I like Changan’s work so much. I like this painting mostly for its landscape qualities and the lighting! Landscapes create an evocative image for a person to view, because nature is such a powerful object to behold. The lighting and other elements make it appear to be some type of stress or storm. Light appears from a source among the cliff side, as well as in the background and the ground seems alight with some azure flame!
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