Contemporary artist James Winn captures the spirit of the Midwest in masterfully illuminated landscapes and flower paintings.  Known for his rolling landscapes with distant horizons under boundless skies, Winn has narrowed his focus on nature in his most recent work.  Larger than life Surprise Lilies bathed in magnificent light against dark backgrounds, and Lotus Lilies in reflective ponds, are now the focal point of his paintings. Winn instills his paintings with the sense of “presence” he describes as something “one can only experience when alone and attentive in nature.”

“My work is photo-based, but the paintings are not about “seeing” like a camera, where the entire image is just re-presented with the same detail and cool detachment across the composition. The Photo Realist painting is as much about “modes of seeing,” with the artist’s hand as invisible as possible, as it is about the image or scene depicted.”

-James Winn

FULL MOON LOTUS # 16

Acrylic on Canvas,

32 x 32” (Image)

33 5/8 x 33 5/8” (Framed)

“For me, the photos I use are just to keep all the shapes realistic, but the light and the colors are all changed and adjusted, things are stretched out, and diagonals are diminished to reinforce that sense of harmony.”

-James Winn

LOTUS LILIES NO. 29

Acrylic on Panel,

24 x 30” (Image)

25 x 31” (Framed)

“It’s those quiet moments, in the mystery of the last light, that represent my latest efforts: to present that moment, when nature whispers that there is more in the world than what meets the eye.”

-James Winn

LATE RAIN

Acrylic on Paper,

12 x 16” (Image)

23 x 26” (Framed)

Cathy Martin

Unblemished vistas and iconic Wisconsin landscapes are the focus of Cathy Martin’s paintings. Without any formal training, Martin's paintings reveal a true artist's intuition through complex detailing and intriguing compositional choices.

A Wisconsin farmer by trade, Martin's paintings recount a long history of early mornings on the family farm and a subtle longing for life little changed from generation to generation. The artist's pristine paint handling and authority over light and shadow match her unique visions and command of realism.

AUTUMN GLOW

Oil on Masonite

16 1/2 x 13 1/4” (Image)

19 1/2 x 16” (Framed)

“Painting is part of who I am and has been this way for many years. I paint everyday and it has become a ritual for me. It is something that I need.  It nurtures me from within.  It's a practice that allows me to show others what I see and how I see it.  It exposes the beauty in nature that people sometimes forget to look for. The time and care I put into my paintings mirrors the respect I have for the outside world.”

-Cathy Martin

COLD FRONT

Oil on Masonite

8 3/8 x 17 5/8” (Image)

11 3/8 x 20 5/8” (Framed)

“The places I paint are found on the back roads.  Places that you have to get lost in to find, but they are also familiar places, because many of us in the Midwest grew up in them. They are places that get handed down from one generation to another and don't change much along the way.”

-Cathy Martin

I LOVE AUTUMN (OCTOBER IN WISCONSIN)

Oil on Masonite

13 x 23” (Image)

16 x 26” (Framed)

In William Nichols’ large-scale paintings, the viewer is immersed within a lushly blooming garden or a densely wooded forest. It is a contemporary look at landscape generated out of American traditions of realism. Nichols’ overlaying of transparent glazes creates a rich tapestry of sensuous color and texture.

Elements found in Nichols’ work include an intense focus on a close-up of a landscape rather than a large-scale vista and a methodical application of paint that allows for incredible detail and abstraction. The atmospheric quality of light in his painting provides a great sense of realism, especially when viewed from afar. His masterful paintings bridge realism with impression and abstraction.

REFLECTED REEDS THE FROG POND

Oil on Panel

42 1/2 x 64” (Image)

44 1/2 x 65 1/2” (Framed)

“I try my utmost to create a meaningful experience for whoever views my work. Making this happen involves many choices, from the subject I choose, how I interpret what I see and then making that visible with my choice of materials and how I put them to work along with the limited vocabulary of the visual arts.”

-William Nichols

EVENING SHADOWS

Oil on Linen

48 x 58”

“My work is about a moment, about time, about nature, and the sense of awareness we gain about ourselves through such an encounter.”

-William Nichols

BEND IN THE STREAM

Oil on Linen,

46 x 53” (Image)

48 x 55” (Framed)

EVENING SKY

Gouache on Paper,

3 1/2 x 5” (Image)

10 x 12” (Framed)

LIGHT OVER THE OCEAN

Gouache on Paper,

6 1/4 x 4” (Image)

12 x 10” (Framed)

MIDNIGHT SKY

Gouache on Paper,

6 1/4 x 4” (Image)

12 x 10” (Framed)

Clouds are constantly shifting – reforming before we have the time to understand why we appreciate them. At the core of my work is a desire to preserve a fleeting moment of light

-Ben Gosnell

LIGHT THROUGH CLOUDS

Gouache on Paper,

4 x 6” (Image)

10 x 12” (Framed)

Doug Hatch

Doug Hatch is best known for his realistic paintings of urban scenes. Working in his studio from photographs, Hatch employs traditional methods of photorealism using strong diagonals, reflected surfaces, and transparent components to elucidate vibrant street scenes. Influenced by Edward Hopper and Richard Estes, Hatch is particularly interested in interpreting daily life. Vibrant, detail oriented and filled with movement, the paintings of Doug Hatch capture a place and time of day, perfectly.

FAR AND AWAY

Oil on Baltic Birch Panel

9 1/2 x 22” (Image)

11 x 23 1/2"” (Framed)

CYPHER

Oil on Maple Panel

20 x 36” (Image)

21 3/4 x 37 3/4” (Framed)

“It's quite easy to think in the abstract while approaching the rigidity of realism. The initial matrix or bones of the work is usually made up of squares, rectangles or spheres. The abstraction happens inside those frames. Then, through the process, hopefully, all come together in the end to create the illusion of depth, reflected light, and objects in space that you might see in your everyday life.”

-Doug Hatch

PATIENCE

Oil on Canvas

34 x 50” (Image)

35 x 51” (Framed)

Kathy Hofmann

Inspired by the rural surroundings of her childhood, Kathy Hofmann paints with an intense focus and a lifelong passion for the family farmstead. While soaking in the atmospheric haze of the sunlit fields surrounding her, the artist feels the friendly and familiar gaze of cows following her every move.

RED HOLSTEIN

Acrylic on Wood Panel

9 x 9” (Image)

12 3/4 x 12 3/4” (Framed)

“Living at the gateway of the driftless region of southwestern Wisconsin with its amazingly rich visual landscape of hills, valleys, coulees, streams, and pastures provides virtually unlimited subjects. I seek those fleeting moments when the light turns an otherwise ordinary scene into something extraordinary. For example, moments of fleeting light that illuminate a foggy pasture in the morning or a hilltop at sunset.”

- Kathy Hofmann

SUN SETTING

Acrylic on Wood Panel

6 x 12” (Image)

11 x 16” (Framed)

“I am always looking for this melding of light. Atmosphere, gradations of light, color, tone, value, and shape. These are the things that really inspire me as a painter and bring me to that level of wanting to take it into the studio to be able to play with those gradations of light that are melting into the distance.”

- Kathy Hofmann

THE OAKS

Acrylic on Board

11 x 14” (Image)

17 1/2 x 20 1/2” (Framed)