It is a thrill and honor to be the Featured Artist for the 2018 Holiday Exhibit.  The Nature Artists’ Guild is a wonderful group of talented and supportive people with a wide variety of artistic interests.  I have been a member since 1995 and am still amazed how we all see basically the same natural objects but can depict them in such unique individual ways.

The world of nature has been a close friend since early childhood.  I was born and raised in central Wisconsin where my family lived in a large woods by a lake.  With few kids nearby and being the early days of TV, hiking around our property and looking at stuff was a frequent pastime.  My mother was an amateur artist and of course I wanted to try doing what she did, and the rest is history.

Over the years I have tried most all art media, but have found that watercolor and acrylic seem to respond best for me.  My career was in science, but I continued painting when time permitted.  Art training included classes and workshops with local artists.  Always on the lookout for opportunity, I found “retraining ” money was available after being downsized from a job and I used this for tuition for several classes at the College of Dupage and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Dining on Goldenrod, pastel, copyright Gary Chipman

My artwork is in a representational style and I try to bring my own personal interpretation to each subject rather than a photo-realistic depiction of what is before me.  I sometimes paint outside in nature, but even here often rearrange or eliminate items to strengthen the message of what I want to say in my art.  For me, being in nature and observing carefully is as important as sketches or photographs to get subjects for my work.  I am known for my sunset paintings and here the real subject is so fleeting that the only choice is to observe and paint later from mental notes.

Moonlit Roost, watercolor, copyright Gary Chipman

Twilight Hunter, watercolor, copyright Gary Chipman

There is so much to see in nature it is hard to choose a subject, but I have mainly concentrated on landscapes or individual objects such as birds, flowers and fungus.  In each work I try to find a way to catch the viewer’s attention and offer them a new interpretation or insight into a natural scene or object they have most likely seen before.

Forest Fungus #4, watercolor, copyright Gary Chipman

Winter Willows, watercolor, copyright Gary Chipman