Nicholas Coleman jokes that he might have been born a little too late. “I love the American West and the history that comes along with it,” he says. Growing up in Utah, he learned to appreciate the landscape of the West—the fishing holes and the mountain views.
“I still love Utah, but it’s getting bigger and bigger all the time, and all of those places that we used to go when I was growing up are disappearing,” he says. “They still exist, but you have to make a concerted effort to get out into it.”
Lower Salt River Camp at Dusk, oil on linen, 40 x 60”
But his enthusiasm for the nature and history of the West are captured in his paintings, and this July, he will showcase Western and wildlife works at J Watson Fine Art in Jackson, Wyoming, beginning August 18. During the opening, he will also paint live for visitors.
When Coleman goes out into nature, he says he can’t help get excited when the sun starts setting. “My friends will ask me, ‘You’ve seen a lot of sunsets, why are you getting all excited?’ But I haven’t seen that particular sunset. They still fascinate me.” After spending time outside, he’s always eager to get back to his studio and start painting.
Evening Near Salt Creek, oil on linen, 24 x 30”
“When I was in my early 20s, I thought I’d never run out of ideas, and you know what? I’m 44 and I still haven’t,” Coleman says. Though he will make plans for specific paintings, if he sees something that inspires him, he’ll drop what he’s doing and get to work on something new. Because of that, he typically finds himself working on four or five paintings at the same time, all in various states of completion.
Coleman often collects ideas while on horseback. “When you’re on a horse, you end up seeing all sorts of interesting things. Out in the bush, you’ll come across a fox or a badger, or if you’re lucky, you might see a jackrabbit out in the desert,” he says. “But they’re fleeting little moments, so you have to be paying attention.
White Tail at Dusk, oil on linen, 20 x 16”
Though he typically creates his paintings based on his own photographs and sketches, he recently completed a painting called Evening Light, which was inspired by a photograph taken by his friend Ben Christensen. “We’ve done a few things together, and this painting is a version of one of his photographs,” Coleman says.
Evening Light, oil on linen, 30 x 24”
The painting features a woman on horseback. The silhouette of a mountain range appears in the background, and the entire scene is awash with the pinkish-orange glow of sunset. The original photo had a landscape and lighting that was slightly different. “I decided to exaggerate the things that I love and change some of the details so it had what I really wanted to see,” he says.
Visit J Watson Fine Art in July to see more of Coleman’s works, which will include cowboy and Native American paintings along with wildlife works. —
Powered by Froala Editor
