Ron Elstad

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Ron Elstad's Biography and Artist Statement

I love the wilderness and everything about it but, foremost, I love the trees. I have a great deal of respect for their never yielding ability to take all of nature's "woes" only to give back the very air we breathe. I find being out in the wilderness with the trees to be a very peaceful as well as a spiritually rewarding experience. It was for this reason I chose all the aspects of nature as my genre. My hope is to convey all of my personal experiences to the viewer through my paintings.

Ron Elstad, The Truth of Light's Presence, Newport Beach, CA, Oil on Canvas, 24" x 30"

As a painter it is the aspect qualities of dynamic design which ignites my soul with creative emotion. I believe these aspects are the very foundations for the success and longevity of a painting. Furthermore, I find these aspects formulate better when applied to a composition which is close up to the subject rather than a panoramic view. However, I have no problem with a panoramic view which embodies the very qualities of design I admire and strive to capture.

                              Ron Elstad, Sunshine for Sunflowers , Oil on Canvas, 18" x 14"

The subject alone is never my first concern when it comes to choosing what I'm going to paint. What's most important to me is that the composition should evoke an emotional response, and it embodies all the aspects of great design. However, this is still not enough for me—as I find doing the same type of painting over and over again to be very boring and laborious —it is for this reason I like to constantly explore all of my options. It is these options which bring forth a great deal of variety to how and what I might paint. Variety is the very thing that keeps me emotionally alive as a painter. "Painting is not just my livelihood...it is my life."

                      Ron Elstad, A Simple Place of Worship, Abiqui, NM, Oil on Canvas, 16" x 20"

In producing my paintings, I work wet into wet mixing the pure tube colors directly on the canvas with the use of a variety of dynamic brush and palette knife strokes. I apply the paint in a thick impasto style. This enables me to bring a great deal of interest to the surface of the canvas with lively texture. I find it's this surface quality which offers another dimension to the over all success of the painting. I believe my design style and brush work are the foremost distinctive qualities of my work.

                Ron Elstad, Nesting on Top of the World, Anaheim Hills, CA, Oil on Canvas, 30" x 24"

I believe in producing the highest quality of work possible. I do this not only because it's in my nature, but because I want to be part of keeping our artistic heritage alive. I believe it's very important that we as artists do our best to keep from diluting the quality of art work which came before us. This is why I strive earnestly to produce the quality in my work to be no less than equal to those of the masters of the-turn-of-the-last-century and before.

                          Ron Elstad, Magic Along the Coyote Fence, Oil on Canvas, 24" x 18"

PERSONAL:

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota - 1944.

EDUCATION:

An AA Degree in Advertising Communications from Santa Ana College, 1976 (continued from LA Trade Technical College, 1967)

Two Semesters of Illustration Techniques with Dan McCaw at the Art Center School of Design, 1980

Oil painting workshops with Dan McCaw, 1980 & 81

ART AFFILIATIONS:

Signature member of the Oil Painters of America

Artist Member of the California Art Club

Former Member of the Laguna Beach Museum’s Historical Collection Council and board member of the Society of Illustrators, Los Angeles, CA

AWARDS: (selected)

TWO GOLD MEDALS AND A BEST OF SHOW: Society of Illustrator’s annual West Show – 1989

BRONZE AWARD: Art of California Magazine’s Discovery Awards Competition – 1993

AWARD OF EXCELENCE: Oil Painters of America’s annual juried national and regional competitions - 1992, 93, 94 & 95

AWARD OF EXCELENCE: California Art Club’s – 85th, 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th, 90th, 91st, 92nd & 93rd annual Gold Medal Exhibition – 1994, 95, 96, 97, 98, 2000, 2001 & 2003

SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS: (selected)

Oil Painters of America’s annual juried national art exhibit, Chicago Illinois – 1992 & 93, San Antonio, Texas – 1995

Oil Painters of America’s first annual juried regional art exhibit,

The Oaks, spring and fall, ClassicsJoan Irvine Smith’s thoroughbred horse ranch, San Juan Capistrano, CA. 1992, 93, 94 & 95

Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard, CA. – 1994

California Art Club (Old Mill Gallery) San Marino, CA. 2001 & 2002

Pacific Asian Museum, Pasadena, CA.- paintings of old China Town, 2002

Arizona: A Millennium of Arizona Art, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ 2007

2007 - Santa Fe Fall Small Works Show and Sale by Gallery Artists, Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, NM

COLLECTORS: (selected)

The United States Air Force, Washington, DC.

Mrs. Joan Irvine Smith, San Juan Capistrano, CA. (founder of the Irvine Museum)

Mr. Jean Stern, Irvine, CA. (art historian, lecturer and director of the Irvine Museum)

Mr. James P. Warmington, Newport Beach, CA. (President and CEO of Warmington Homes, Costa Mesa, CA.)

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Ron Elstad, Most of Us Can Only Dream, Laguna Beach, CA, Oil on Canvas, 30" x 40"

Ron Elstad's Studio