“I am moved by the beauty of Nature as it provides those evanescent moments of inspiration and subjects which capture my curiosity and imagination. I then strive to distill this seed of inspiration to their essential, simplified elements. The results are compositions that are created with both a sense of disciplined refined technique and exploratory spontaneity. At the heart of wonder is the curiosity to explore presence. When we follow that thread it can only lead us to appreciation, which I feel is the motivation for each of my paintings. They are born out of a deep love for what I am experiencing in the Natural World.”
Kathryn Mapes Turner is a Jackson Hole native and forth generation of a ranching family. Growing up surrounded by the magnificent beauty of Grand Teton National Park directly influences her love of the visual world and beauty. Through her oil and watercolor paintings, Turner expresses her passion for the landscape and the natural world.
Now nationally recognized and award-winning, her work has been featured at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum – Birds in Art Exhibition, American Impressionist Society, National Museum of Wildlife Art, and the American Academy of Equine Art. Publications include the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, Fine Art Connoisseur, SouthwestArt, American Art Collector, Western Art and Architecture, Big Sky Journal, Images West, and Cowboys and Indians Magazine. She is a member of the Oil Painters of America, National Watercolor Society, and Rocky Mountain Plein Air painter.
Most recently, Turner was honored as the 2018 Featured Artist at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition.
“The strangeness of this life cannot be measured. One would think that as you age and mature, a pattern would unfold to aid you along the path your life follows. Of course, the opposite is what surfaces, and you then seek shelter for the needs of your spirit. As Oscar Wilde said, ‘Simple pleasures are the last refuge of the complex.’
“I find shelter in the locales seen in these paintings. By finding them, I have found myself. It's that simple. I have increasingly simplified my paintings in order to create an atmosphere that is sometimes meditative, sometimes something else. Every work of art creates its own climate in which it can be understood. It is not about the subject; it is what you carry with you to it that matters, and that is what supplies the spark of ignition. I simply wait long enough, patiently, and life shows up.
“I really feel the less I say about my paintings the more likely they are to invite an exchange. I have no interest in labels such as "abstract" or "representational." I don't really care about technique or how color may relate to form or anything else. My interest is in my response to the emotion of the moment. These paintings, then, are my refuge and hopefully mirror what I feel for life at this time.”
Born in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1954, Felsing received a B.S. degree from Michigan State University in 1979. His paintings have been exhibited at the Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin, the Algonqin Park Museum in Ontario, Canada, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, among others. His paintings also reside in the permanent collections of numerous institutions, including the Nature Conservancy of Arlington, Virginia and East Lansing, Michigan, the Living Science Foundation in Redwood City, California, the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery in Woodstock, New York, and the Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. He has also been featured in numerous publications, including the magazines Wildlife Art, Southwest Art, Art-Talk, and Mountain Living.
As a representational painter Mitch believes that painting is a celebration of life and the beauty that surrounds us. He is devoted to the traditions of the late 19th century artists who looked to the figure and nature for inspiration regarding light, color, and design. Seeking out this inspiration, Mitch works directly from life to capture the qualities and nuances of natural light and color harmony. He has a strong conviction that great artistic communication depends on good draftsmanship, design and vision. His artistic desire is to “portray a positive visual statement and hope the viewer will experience what I see and in some sense be inspired, uplifted, or moved by my painting, whether it is of a small intimate setting or a grandiose subject.”
Mitch resides in the desert southwest in Mesa, Arizona with his wife and children. He is a Signature Member of the following organizations: Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society and the prestigious Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA).
Stacey Peterson was born in 1978 and raised in Littleton, Colorado. Growing up at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Stacey developed a love for the outdoors that influences her artwork today.
While Peterson’s professional background is in the field of environmental engineering, she has always been interested in drawing and painting. She took up oil painting after graduating from college, concentrating on portraiture at first and then turning her focus to the landscape. An avid backpacker, hiker, and mountain biker, Peterson draws upon her time outdoors to provide the inspiration for her oil paintings. She often works on location, and uses her plein air studies as reference for studio works that typically depict locations in the wilderness areas of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West.
Stacey is an award-winning painter, most recently honored with the Lucile Van Slyck Best of Show award at the 2017 A Timeless Legacy Show, held at the Hockaday Museum of Art. She has been featured in Southwest Art and Plein Air Magazine, and had her artwork published in American Artist and Western Art Collector magazine.
Primarily a self-taught artist, Stacey’s art education includes coursework at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, and workshops with nationally recognized painters Dan Young, Jay Moore, and John David Phillips. By way of formal education, Stacey holds a B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Science from the Colorado School of Mines.
Peterson is a signature member of the Oil Painters of America (OPA), and Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters (RMPAP). Her work can be viewed at Oh-Be-Joyful Gallery in Crested Butte and Telluride, CO, Saks Galleries in Denver, CO, Wild Horse Gallery in Steamboat Springs, CO, Terakedis Fine Art in Billings, MT, and Frame of Reference Fine Art in Whitefish, MT. Stacey lives in the mountain town of Evergreen, Colorado with her husband Nathan, eleven year old daughter Aspen, and eight year old son Owen.
“Even though I paint a lot of studies on location, my landscapes are actually less about detailing a specific place than they are about the feelings evoked. I’m more interested in conveying the emotional connection that I had with each scene,” says the artist. “Moving cross-Atlantic three times in my early years, I spent much of my life with an underlying sense of homesickness. This yearning propelled me to try to create a sense of ‘home’ within my landscapes. My greatest hope is that my work gives its viewers this same sense of comfort and connectedness; a gentle place to rest.
After moving to the US from England as a teenager, Jane Hunt received her degree in illustration from the Cleveland Institute of Art. After working as an illustrator for several years, Hunt eventually returned to her true love: landscape oil painting.
Jane Hunt is a Master Signature Member of the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, and a Signature Member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, Women Artists of the West, Plein Air Artists of Colorado, and an artist member of the Salmagundi Club. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Oil Painters of America. Hunt is a faculty member of the Plein Air Convention as well as a demonstrator and speaker at the Oil Painters of America National Exhibition. She has been featured in such publications as Southwest Art, Plein Air Magazine Art of the West, and Fine Art Connoisseur. Hunt’s paintings have been exhibited in dozens of galleries and museums internationally and she is represented by notable galleries in the US as well as her native England.
The oil painter now resides in Colorado, where she continues to be awed and inspired by the beauty surrounding her.