Artist Statement: Al Agnew

Nature's light

Noted wildlife painter Al Agnew and his wife Mary spent their autumn looking at majestic mountains from their new house in Montana's Paradise Valley, a major river valley of the Yellowstone River.

"It got me reinvigorated with changing light patterns," says Agnew from his main residence in Missouri. "All of my pieces have fairly strong light sources, and light and shadows of Western landscapes have been intriguing me lately."

Agnew keeps his work fresh by portraying light-an ever-changing source of inspiration."The main thing is I don't like to do the same thing over and over again," he adds.

"I still look at each piece as different with different things."

Beginning February 18, Sanders Galleries will showcase up to 10 of Agnew's latest paintings of wildlife in the desert Southwest and other settings. In this grouping the artist focuses on quality of the light and quality of the brushstrokes.

"With these works I'm going farther with subject matter and locations of paintings," says Agnew. "I hope collectors notice some changes in the work as far as more boldness in the brushstrokes. There's still detail in my work but a lot of it is illusion."

His 40-by-60-inch painting titled To the Victor the Spoils best embodies his focus on the quality of light and the illusion of detail in the animals, yet it shows life and movement. Evening Gathering imbues a similar spirit in a more painterly manner.

"It embodies what I'm doing these days," adds Agnew.

While the majority of Agnew's new work is based on travels throughout the West-particularly Yellowstone-the painting titled Arctic Rhythms highlights an Alaskan polar bear strolling along the shore.
"It's an unusual painting for me in that it's a nighttime setting and an attempt to do an Aurora Borealis [Northern Lights]," he explains.

An avid fisherman, hiker, and bow hunter, Agnew's knowledge, love, and respect for the natural world are channeled from his eye and mind to the stroke of his brush. Proficient in both oils and acrylics, lately he has been exploring the process of making each brushstroke more concise and expressive-to say more with less.

"I've been known as a realist artist who does fine detail in my work, but more and more I'm using fewer brushstrokes with the illusion of detail. My goal is to be more efficient with my brushstrokes," says Agnew. "If your composition and basic principles of art are followed, it doesn't matter if you have a lot of detail or not. In recent years, I've found in order to keep my work fresh, I don't overwork things, and I'm bolder in laying the paint down."