It’s impossible to say with any certainty who the busiest artist in the West is, but if anything can be certain it’s that Don Oelze is one of the finalists.
The Good Land, oil, 40 x 50”
The Montana-based painter skates from one deadline to another, which is common among all artists, but for Oelze the distance between each deadline is getting shorter and shorter as he takes on new shows and exhibitions. “What’s funny about it is that I can’t say no to anyone. About a year ago [Legacy Gallery owner] Brad Richardson called me up to ask if I wanted to do one of his smaller Artist Focus shows—something like nine to 10 pieces, which is what I’ve done for him in the past,” Oelze says. “Then in October he calls me up and says he wants to go even bigger, up to 15 pieces. The trick is to just keep on working.”
The major Legacy show, Brushed By History,will take place January 25 in Scottsdale, Arizona. It will have a dual-format presentation with a mixture of by-draw pieces and also several works sold via auction. Immediately after that, Oelze will contribute a piece here and there for almost a half dozen other shows. Keeping deadlines straight has been a chore, especially as his studio expands amid a burst of construction.
Point of No Return, oil, 28 x 44”
This new schedule he’s keeping, rich with shows and events spread throughout the year, is indicative of Oelze’s recent success, which has caused collectors to pound at his door for new work. He’s had auction hits, full draw boxes, requests for commissions and, at a recent Night of Artists exhibition, a bidder who was ready to overturn a table to make his bid known to the auctioneer. The artist finds the recent surge in interest interesting, especially considering he’s not changed his formula in recent years.
“There does seem to be some new energy around my work and it’s a mystery to me that I don’t understand. It’s nice and a blessing, but I’ve been working this hard since I’ve come onto the scene in 2004,” he says. “I’ve gotten better since then, and I’ve learned how to paint faces and compose better, but I’ve always been pushing myself and my work.”
Homeward Bound, oil, 44 x 44”
In the early 2000s, Oelze was living in Japan and teaching English. “My main job was working in the financial district in Tokyo for the big securities firms. When they would go public, they would need all of their financial documents translated from Japanese to English, so that’s what I would do,” he recalls of those years living across the Pacific Ocean. “It was a stressful job, so on the weekends I would go out and paint as a stress reliever. I had painted when I was younger, so it wasn’t entirely new to me. I quickly realized that the most joyous time of my life was on those weekends painting. I realized that was what I was supposed to do."
Heart of the Storm, oil, 36 x 40”
After a trip to Montana to visit family, Oelze encountered a relative who encouraged the painter to send him some artwork from Japan that he could sell at various art shows, including at events at the Heritage Inn in Great Falls and at the Western-themed lifestyle show Cowboy Christmas in Las Vegas. Everything he sent was sold. By 2004, he was ready to leave Japan and enter the art market. He hasn’t stopped moving since.
One of the strongest points of his work, a characteristic touted by collectors who have purchased his paintings, is Oelze’s knack for composition. “My process for painting comes from ideas found within the landscape. When I see a landscape, I create scenarios that can happen there in my mind’s eye. I just imagine what it would be like to have people in the scene,” he says. “I also read like crazy—I start and end each day with a book in my hands. I will get an idea, develop it with a sketch or maybe move things around in the computer as I try to discover what the final painting will be. The trick is to not plan everything out. Some of it should be loose in my mind, almost murky, which allows for some of those accidents to happen. Those are the little things that can make or break a painting.”
White Man’s Smoke, oil, 40 x 46”
New works in the show include The Good Land and Homeward Bound, both of which show his ability to take a landscape and fill it with a story, and also Heart of the Storm, a bison hunt that left plenty of room of compositional accidents that elevate the painting. All of the works will feature the Blackfeet people, including many close friends who posed for the images.
Hit and Run, oil, 38 x 40”
The new works will represent one of Oelze’s largest and most important solo shows to date, and will also further shine a light on his career that continues to rise through the ranks of Western art. Brushed By History will run through February 4, but collectors are urged to participate in the sale on January 25 in Scottsdale. —
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