John Sackas

Along a Quiet Stream

c1940

A whimsical depiction by Martha Walter of a picnic table with flowers, cups, Pepsi bottles, bowls and a basket. The bold colors and strong contrasts make Walter's work so striking an...

A masterful oil painting depicting a serene British country side landscape with some figures along a winding path cutting through a lush, green meadow. Tall, slender trees with spars...

Gray Umbrella is an example of the bright colors that Beckner uses in his paintings. The Gray Umbrella series was painted in Dana Point California Jim Beckner just finished a series of beach paintings. All of them can be seen below and available. Framing will be complete be December or cam be shipped without a frame. Denver-based artist Jim Beckner paints like a jazz musician. The blues bop, the oranges swing, and the yellows vibrate. Drawn to the beat of the city, the artist creates expressionistic urban landscapes that show his unabashed love of color. More than anything, his paintings dance with their own energy, and an urban rhythm emanates from his canvases. Beckner was born and raised in Lakewood, CO, a suburb of Denver. Art played an integral role in the family. “My dad was—and still is—a watercolor artist,” he explains. “He does a lot of Colorado landscapes, very detailed, specific, realistic artwork.” Beckner remembers drawing and coloring at every opportunity when he was a child. “Both of my parents recognized that it was something I enjoyed,” he recalls. “I often drew to entertain those around me.” Occasionally, the Beckner family would drive into downtown Denver to eat out at a restaurant. “I always thought the city was an exciting place,” notes the artist. “It had a certain edginess about it.” Those early excursions, and the urban sensibility they fostered in the impressionable youth, would have a profound effect on his burgeoning talent. Encouraged by his parents, Beckner took art classes in junior high school. “I began to realize that I had some skill at drawing,” he says, “that I could see something and then re-create it.” In high school his art teacher was artist Ray Knaub...

An early work by American impressionist Aldro T. Hibbard, “Venice, 1914." Painted during his travels abroad, Hibbard renders sunlit stone, weathered boats, and the figures of local f...