American Realist Paintings

Artist Comments
"The fun of summer captured in a snapshot in time," describes artist Jeff Fleming. This piece creates its own energy with bright colors and splashing water. Jeff describes his painting style as kinetic impressionism. He begins with a pencil sketch, then with gloved hands applied oil paint using his fingers. Details were later added using brushes and string. Once the paint is dry, he moves his painting to his studio floor where he spontaneously splatters and flings paint across the canvas.

About the Artist
Artist Jeff Fleming uses fingerpainting to create exuberant portraits of dogs. Growing up in Southern California, Jeff was first introduced to fingerpainting in kindergarten. He painted through high school and college and won several art awards, including Best of Show in a city wide student competition. After graduating with a degree in journalism and advertising, he went to work as an art director. For the next 40 years, he created print, radio and television ads for a number of top agencies. "After retiring in 2019, the clouds of stress and pressure cleared and allowed me to set my creative energy free," says Jeff. He began developing new techniques focused on the excitement and energy of painting. Today, he uses a variety of methods and tools, including fingerpainting wearing nitrile gloves...

Artist Comments
"Ravens look highly intelligent," says artist Emil Morhardt. "This one was slowly and purposefully striding back and forth about ...

Artist Comments
In this dreamy forest scene, artist Candice Eisenfeld used a palette knife and thick, semi-dried acrylic as the top layer to achieve the essence of tree bark textures. Background layers of tree forms are embedded in thin, white veils of paint and varnish to achieve an early morning, atmospheric effect.

About the Artist
As an American exploring issues of identity, artist Candice Eisenfeld paints through the lens of the first American art movement, the Hudson River School. Rather than depicting a specific locale, Candice’s artwork evokes a sense of place. These "inner landscapes" are invented, and often reference photographs taken during travels in southern Appalachia and the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains. Whether real or imagined, her paintings are influenced by the Dutch Masters, Tonalists, and Chinese painting. Produced on a single wooden panel, the ethereal landscapes are often joined with segments of aqueous color fields which act as commentary for the landscapes, like the chorus in a Greek play. The crisp, hard edges separating the landscapes from the color fields command a sense of order in an otherwise fluid and painterly surface. With two or three sections of the panel competing for attention, the painting creates multiple focal points. Candice's art has been displayed in embassies in Namibia and Belarus, held in the collections of Norwest Bank and Northwest Airlines...

Artist Comments
"These two long-billed curlews are gazing at us with an unmistakable curiosity," says artist Emil Morhardt. "Like many shorebirds, when I sat on the beach qui...

Artist Comments
Artist Jo Galang says this piece was inspired by a lovely bouquet she received from her son and his girlfriend on Mother's Day. "It was so beautiful, and the ...

Artist Comments
A calm evening glow settles on Santa Monica's curving shore and pier in the distance. A man strolls among the palms while another figure looks out on the scen...

Artist Comments
"Where I live, the coconut palms are dressed in the summer in magnificent colors that reveal a range of chromatic harmony," shares artist Andres Lopez. "It is as if the trees want to tell us, 'look at me...

Artist Comments
"The two nearer whimbrels look to me," shares artist Emil Morhardt. "They look as though they might be discussing whether or not to let junior fly to Florida ...

Artist Comments
A quiet riverside scene, with lush greens and leisurely moving water. Just above the treeline, billowing clouds linger before revealing a soft blue sky. "I find...

Artist Comments
This piece was inspired by the desire to linger near or in warm tropical waters, watching the mesmerizing patterns of light refractions as they move with the currents.

About the Artist
Laura Browning...

Artist Comments
Sherri posed her model, Alex, in a wooded area near Sedona, Arizona on an autumn day. The late afternoon sun glows in the trees and silhouettes Alex as she pull...

Artist Comments
A delicate portrait of a Canada goose against a pastel backdrop. "Spending time alone in nature is something I take advantage of whenever possible," shares ar...

Artist Comments
A cowboy on his horse with his trusty dogs herd his cattle along a grassy ravine. Pine trees line the background opening up to a bright sunny sky. Artist John...

Artist Comments
A close-up view of two ducks looking astutely at the viewer. "There's something highly engaging, and perhaps a little unsettling, about the way these young fe...

Artist Comments
Two beautiful blue vintage American cars side by side in the streets of Havana. A friendly exchange between the drivers and pedestrians is being held in the m...

Artist Comments
A lone bison grazes on a wide plain in Yellowstone with a winding stream flowing behind. Revealing a line of shadowed trees in the background, artist John Jas...

Artist Comments
In this hyperrealistic painting of a close-up view of an eye framed by delicate white flowers, artist David Shepherd investigates taking people out of gender....

Artist Comments
Artist Heather Foster encountered this inquisitive subject while painting en plein air. "This nosy California girl wanted to be front and center to see what t...

Artist Comments
The Coquitlam River near Jo's home in British Columbia is a favorite painting subject. She enjoys regularly walking the riverbanks from one end to the other w...

Artist Comments
"These two glowing marbled godwits are painted at the edge of the surf on a soft late evening on a Santa Barbara beach," sh...