Keith Bond
Communing with Nature
Artist Reception and Gallery Talk:
Saturday, November 1, 2014, 2-5 pm
Keith Bond's exquisite oil paintings exude deep emotion and veneration for the earth. He has a gift of capturing the true essence of the place. Keith - who spent his youth exploring the remote mountains and canyons near his childhood home in rural Cache Valley, Utah - has a natural ability to see beyond the 'picturesque' beauty of a scene. He can also feel the spirit of the landscape. He paints this feeling - an emotional response to the scene - rather than painting a literal depiction.
Please Join Us For This Exciting Featured Artist Exhibition.
Showing Through November 15, 2014
Some landscapes simply demand acknowledgment, and Western icons like Monument Valley and Maroon Bells never fail to receive it. But in the great spaces between favored majesties there exists a quiet universe of beauties that, if less flamboyant, speak far more eloquently of the West’s beating heart.
In “Communing with Nature”, opening Nov. 1 at Evergreen Fine Art Gallery, renowned oil painter Keith Bond will share his visions of those windswept paths less traveled, and reveal the soul of the country’s wide places.
“Within all things there is an underlying spiritual component,” says Bond, a longtime resident of Wellington, Colo., near the Wyoming border. “I strive to capture the true essence of the place by seeing and feeling the divine in nature. By painting frequently on location, my relationship with nature is strengthened and I gain deeper insights.”
The spiritual component in Bond’s work is as subtle as it is unmistakable. By his generous “painterly” strokes and masterfully restrained application of color, the distant mesa rises into the pale Western sky like a rough-hewn altar. The broad, skillfully textured river of prairie flowing between ruined sandstone banks invokes reverent reflection. The fading aspen, awash in October’s cold light, stands clothed in patient dignity as its autumn cape falls away in rags, certain that dawn will follow the coming night.
“The paintings are emotional responses,” Bond explains. “Of greatest concern is capturing the spirit of the landscape.”
While untrammeled Nature is Bond’s first love, he’ll often expand a subject to include the pastoral works of Man, thoughtful studies exploring the harmonious union of the mortal and the eternal. And if the West is Bond’s forte, it’s thanks no doubt to the years he spent between Utah’s matchless horizons. A marketing major at Utah State University in Logan, it was his minor in art that enjoyed the best part of his devotion. Upon graduating, Bond found work as assistant director of a fine art gallery in San Antonio before casting his fortunes upon the blank canvas.
As his exquisitely understated style has developed, so has his audience. Of particular note, Bond has created grand murals that grace the walls of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temples from Canada to Guatemala, and can be seen floating 30 feet above Utah’s state senate chamber. And if “Communing with Nature” will showcase Bond’s rare talents on a more modest physical scale, visitors will find the exhibit’s spiritual dimensions as boundless as the American West.
“Through the expressive qualities of paint, I suggest rather than explain,” Bond says, “leaving room for the viewer to delight in discovery, and to respond in a very personal manner.”
“Communing with Nature” begins with an Artist Reception and Gallery Talk from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014, at Evergreen Fine Art Gallery. The exhibit will run through Nov. 15. Evergreen Fine Art is located at 3042 Evergreen Parkway in Evergreen.
To learn more about Evergreen Fine Art Gallery, call 303-679-3610, or visit www.evergreenfineart.com.