By Bonnie Gangelhoff
Susu MeyerGuadalupe, Frio, Brazos, and San Saba—Susu Meyer counts these Texas rivers among her favorite places to paint. The artist’s love affair with water began in her youth when her family took vacations from their home in Houston to the Frio River, which runs through the Texas Hill Country. For the past seven years, she has also returned many times to another Hill Country treasure, the Nueces River. “I’ve seen it change from a thirsty, dry rock bed to a raging monster—flowing with a force that only Mother Nature could create,” Meyer says. The idea that rivers are untamable is part of their allure, she adds. For example, a devastating flood can suddenly carve a new path on the earth’s surface.
Meyer’s moody river renderings begin with a sketch on location as well as notes in a journal about what she is seeing, hearing, smelling, and thinking at the scene. She records everything from the texture of the river grasses to the feeling of the sun rising. For her, painting is about waking up the senses and translating her experiences into a visual adventure for the viewer. She frequently paints large-scale canvases so that people feel as though they are walking into the landscape itself. “If my paintings were small, people would feel more like observers,” Meyer explains.
Even after painting for several decades, the Texas artist still “gets a chill” on a particular kind of day when the rivers offer something new and she senses that the painting she is about to create is destined to be something special. “Natural, untouched beauty has a profound effect on me,” Meyer says. “It stirs my emotions, excites me, bewilders me, and always leaves me in a state of awe.” She is represented by Buchanan Gallery, Galveston, TX, and Davis Gallery, Austin, TX.
These days, Davis frequents Lake Powell, a crystal-clear, man-made body of water surrounded by canyon walls in the high-desert landscape of northern Arizona. He captures such waterscapes with a signature explosion of brilliant color—splashes of cobalt blue, sunflower yellow, and fiery orange to accentuate the drama of the western color scheme. The lush forests of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains are also part of his oeuvre, and he captures the scenes’ various shades of richly tinted greens.
Davis’ works are often abstracted and dotted with people or animals to emphasize the massive vistas of the western landscape and give viewers a sense of perspective. He enjoys the impact of painting monumental works—everything is so open in the West, according to the artist, that large-scale pieces best capture a sense of place. “The visual impact is better for the viewer,” he adds. Davis is represented by Joyce Robins Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; Wilde Meyer Gallery, Scottsdale and Tucson, AZ; and Lucas Gallery, Telluride, CO.
Kaiser, who has painted en plein air for more than 20 years, begins a piece on location but typically finishes it in her studio. She avoids using photographs for reference or painting in artificial light. Although the sunlight outside her studio may change throughout the day, Kaiser has six opaque skylights above her workspace so that the natural light inside remains fairly constant. “My studio approximates what it’s like to work outdoors under an umbrella,” she explains. An influential teacher, Sergei Bongart, helped her with the initial design. “My two years studying with him was a life-changing experience in art,” she says. Kaiser is a signature member of the California Art Club and a member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association. She is represented by McLean Gallery, Malibu, CA, and Fortune Fine Art, Torrance, CA.
Water has played a key role in Dittebrandt’s compositions for more than a decade. “I like to paint water because it is transparent, and there are so many layers to capture,” she says. Dittebrandt is the daughter of an artist, and as a child she began painting, in part, to impress her father. Early on, she became a compulsive sketch artist, drawing everything from trees to her feet, hands, and face, she says. Today, landscapes are her genre of artistic expression and pastel is her medium of choice. “I like the fact that you can grab a pastel and stick it right on the canvas. Then you can layer it to create colors,” she says. While Dittebrandt paints in locales across the Southwest such as Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, her artistic heart belongs to the Northwest with favorite haunts like Trout Lake in Washington. She is represented by Frame Design & Sunbird Gallery, Bend, OR; William Zimmer Gallery, Mendocino, CA; The Real Mother Goose, Portland, OR; and Columbia Art Gallery, Hood River, OR.
Before moving west, Peet witnessed the many characteristics of water up close while living on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. Another influence on her artistic vision occurred when she was growing up in Ohio—Peet’s mother enjoyed taking the family on hikes along the edge of lakes, rivers, and waterfalls. Today, the artist paints at the edge of the timberline, an area where the trees gradually stop growing and the landscape changes dramatically. “There is such a serenity and peace at that level,” she says. “And as you break above the timberline there is a sense of vastness and a feeling of being on top of the world.” Peet’s work is on view in a group show February 12-March 7 at El Presidio Gallery in Tucson, AZ. She is also represented by Big Horn Galleries, Tubac, AZ, and Cody, WY; Cogswell Gallery, Vail, CO; and Snowfire Gallery, Estes Park, CO.
Caton is as adept at depicting intimate scenes in the Hill County as he is the grander-scale vistas of the Big Bend region, Utah, and Arizona. Whatever scene he chooses to portray, Caton is frequently inspired by the 19th-century landscape painters—artists who infused their works with a “sense of the sublime,” he says. Since moving from Houston to the Hill Country five years ago, bodies of water have appeared more regularly in his paintings. “The dramatic possibilities with elements such as white-water rapids bring motion and excitement to the landscape and my work,” he says. Caton earned a master’s degree in fine art from Yale University, and he has received two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship grants in his career. He is represented by Harris Gallery, Houston, TX.
Many of Whellock’s pastels evoke a feeling of distance—far-off horizons and spacious skies that are characteristic of America’s western terrain. The artist works diligently to convey the immense space and layered horizons to the viewer. Her attraction to these panoramic views springs from a 1973 trip to Two Dot, MT, to work on a ranch. Whellock, a young Chicago-based mother at the time, fell in love with the West and has lived in the region ever since. The private moments she experiences outdoors offer her the greatest source of inspiration. “I want to articulate this intimacy with nature to viewers, so they feel drawn into my paintings and take part in the adventure,” she says. Whellock is represented by Fountainside Gallery, Wilmington, NC, and Specialty Accents, Parker, CO.
Vellinga has treasured spending time on the water since the days he and his father took regular fishing trips to Montana’s Madison River. Nowadays, he enjoys getting away to a remote family cabin on a lake with his own children and grandchildren. “If I was philosophical about it, I think water is a draw for most people whether they are artists or not,” he says. “Water seems to refresh people just being around it. I guess I see it as a universal playground.”
The sound of water is a major part of Vellinga’s attraction to depicting the region’s lakes and rivers. Even though he can’t paint sound, the artist can capture the water’s movement, whether it’s rippling, rushing, or gurgling. “For an artist it’s thrilling to see nature at its finest,” he says. “When I’m painting I am completely lost in the light, sounds, and colors. You forget about everything else in your life.” For Vellinga, one of the most exciting parts of his new career is when viewers say they want to travel to the place in the painting—it’s the ultimate compliment, he says. Vellinga is represented by Meyer Gallery, Park City, UT, and Jackson Hole, WY, and Jeanne LaRae Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA.
Featured in “Portfolio: A Way With Water” February 2005
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