Beginning June 18, Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will present new work from wildlife painter Edward Aldrich. The one-man show will feature a number of new works, many of them featuring animals at the top of their food chain.
Over the Ridge, oil, 54 x 40"
“The pieces in this show are really a continuation of elements I have been working on for quite some time…primarily North American western wildlife with an emphasis on predators—wolves, foxes, big cats and bears. These subjects continue to intrigue me and offer plenty of opportunities for fascinating paintings,” Aldrich says. “The main area of exploration for me as an artist does not lie in the subjects so much as in the artistic elements that fascinate me. These are lighting, texture and mood. The lighting on a subject provides the intensity, interest and helps describe the form of that subject. Texture includes all of the range of surface forms that occur on the different elements—fur, rock, horn, snow, grasses. These differing textures allow me to explore different ways of depicting them through the use of palette knife, soft brushes, beat-up ragged brushes, as well as differing forms of paint; glazing and thick impasto underpainting for instance. And mood is that almost intangible thing that is the synthesis of lighting, tone, edges and brushwork—and hopefully ends up with a painting that elicits emotion in the viewer.”
Proceed With Caution, oil, 52 x 38"
New works include two paintings of white wolves standing in the snow. Although there is color in the backgrounds, the paintings draw their strength from their white subject matters, which is no easy feat for an artist.
The Eye, oil, 10 x 12"
“A white subject is fraught with potential pitfalls as it is easy to have everything just be bland sameness. I get around that with two specific elements, lighting and reflected colors. In most of my white animal paintings, I use a very distinct lighting source, either from the side or back. This lighting gives two different benefits: contrasting tones and description of form. The light and shadows on the animals become their own shapes and have their own tonal variations so provide much more interest than if it was overcast day lighting,” he says. “The other element, reflected colors, is what is really fun as an artist. By adding reflected blues, say from the sky, and warm colors on the underside of the animal, say from warm light reflecting off of snow, those contrasting tones help to describe a form as well and provide great interest to the viewer.”
The Guard, oil, 40 x 60"
Aldrich, who has spent a great deal of time observing wildlife, adds that each subject comes to the canvas with its own emotion. “Anyone who has a pet or has closely watched wildlife will quickly see that these animals all have very intense emotions and we can identify with those very emotions,” he says. “But the animals themselves also trigger very specific emotions in us. One reason I enjoy painting predators is that they tend to have those qualities that we inherently admire: majesty, focus, intensity, curiosity. Combine that with their inherent beauty and you have a winning combination.”
Upcoming Show
Up to 12 works
June 18-July 9, 2020
Mountain Trails Gallery
155 Center Street, Jackson, WY 83001
(307) 734-8150
www.mtntrails.net
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