One of the hardest parts about being a painter, Colt Idol says, is finding your artistic identity. “It’s harder than the mechanics of it,” he says. “What are you trying to say with your work? How do you stand apart?”
Growing up in Big Horn, Montana, Idol was exposed to plenty of classic Western subject matter—the landscape, the wildlife, the cowboy swagger—and his upcoming show at Legacy Gallery in Santa Fe, titled Endless Horizon, epitomizes his identity as a Western artist. 
Promenade, oil, 54 x 30"Idol’s interpretation of the West is vibrant with high contrasts and intense colors. “Even if the subject matter is taking you back a ways in time, instead of trying to make it seem aged, it’s about trying to revitalize it,” he explains. “I like to be on that line of fantasy and believability.”
He considers himself a studio painter rather than a plein air painter, partially because it allows him to take more liberties with his work. “Apart from the rigid things like anatomy where you really need reference materials, I don’t want to be too influenced by reality,” he says. “I want to create really immersive pieces, and that is so much more about feeling.” 
Ascension, oil, 40 x 50”
In his painting Ascension, a teepee stands in the foreground of the Montana wetlands amidst a blazing sunset. “I noticed that when you’re standing and witnessing a sunset, it feels like it’s on top of you,” Idol describes. “But when you see sunsets in pictures, that’s not the case.” The painting captures the vastness and scale, as well as the vivid color that is so hard to photograph. 
When the Rooster Calls, oil, 40 x 60"
Promenade features a mountain lion sauntering toward the viewer. “I photographed it, and it had this attitude I knew I wanted to paint right away,” Idol says. The image is uniquely scaled, over twice as tall as it is wide. The cat remains in tight focus against an abstracted background, keeping a close eye on whoever dares cross its path. Idol has a love of cattle as a subject matter, and he portrays them huddled together in When the Rooster Calls. They’re shown in a warm, glowing light, but the chill of the early morning is still apparent. Idol says, “You can see their breath, and I hope that people get the sense of the crispness of that first morning light, when it’s warm and cool at the same time.”
Endless Horizon opens on October 14 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. —
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