Juried Artist BPAF 2017

Peter Campbell seeks to convey an intimate and personal reaction to nature. He has created landscapes painted in oil of hushed, quiet times of day: dawn, twilight and moonlight. Campbell has learned to tap the spirit world that lingers in all of us. He shapes moods quietly without resorting to sentiment or unnecessary romance. His creativity is stirred by the deep rays of sunsets, cool gray days, late evenings, plowed fields – nature at her most serene. He paints themes with limited color scale, depending upon tonal hues to create delicate and subtle relationships expressed by the changeable moods of light and atmosphere: Campbell seeks to express a personal, suggestive and dreamlike world without presenting the detailed aspects of nature. Fleeting glimpses are the spark behind many of Campbell's landscape paintings. Out of the corner of his eye he will see something that catches his fancy and inspires him to paint. The challenge comes, he says, in trying to transfer that instant response to canvas. "You almost have to fight to hold on to that original idea. It takes a lot of work to develop that glimpse into the work you're trying to produce."

The life of an artist suits Campbell well, and his goals are simple: to continue pursuing his passion for painting. "Once you start down the road of art and painting, it's a drug," he says. "I'm not happy if I'm not painting." Campbell finds inspiration in the mountains, desert and ever-changing light. "I work mainly on location to get a direct connection with the landscape. I believe this gets the 'outside' into a painting, giving it elements that make it alive."

Awards
Best of Show Red Brick Aspen Plein Air Invitational Aug 2017
Best of Show Red Brick Aspen Plein Air Invitational Aug 2016
Finalist Richeson Small Works Competition March 2016

Finalist International Artist Magazine Landscape Competition Dec/Jan 2015
Finalist Academy of Realist Art International Competition 2014/2015
Finalist Oil Painters of America 24th Nation Juried Exhibition 2015
2nd Place Award Durango Art Center Juried Exhibition
Finalist Richeson Portrait Competition Aug 2009
Merit Award Durango Art Center Juried Exhibition 2003

Don Cox

doncoxpots@hotmail.com