Cliff Austin

...with Arts at Denver since 2015

 

"I"ve spent a lifetime fishing and camping in Colorado. The desire to remember those rich, vibrant experiences led me to photography. It was only a matter of time before pictures were not enough. Pictures hold moments of time that only represent long-enduring memories.

Painting allows me the luxury of savoring the joy of catching a Rainbow Trout, or of sunsets that took my breath away, and vistas that show how truly insignificant we are. Intimate settings with Aspens and Evergreens and the smell of Spring can transport me to that time when I was ten years old and wondering how to catch "that" fish. It's the "what's around the corner?" feeling that exists at the tip of my paintbrush that keeps me painting. It's a life-long exploration which continues to unfurl from the natural world, through my palette, and onto the canvas, and for that I'm grateful.

Painting people is just as fascinating. The challenge to capture the essence of a person is a nearly impossible task, yet so very worth the effort. Painting is story-telling, and people - the figure, the portrait - are the very breath of story.

Using oil and pastel. I work from life en plein air and from photographs. Each story unfolds into a flow of shapes and colors in step with an extraordinary rhythm which is the heartbeat of my life. It is this story that I hope to make visible to the viewer in order to inspire compassion for such beauty." Cliff Austin