*Brian Astle

*Brian Astle

Available Work

Artist's Statement

Art for me is a way of dealing with life. We all face challenges, some big and some small, but it is what we do in light of those challenges that defines us. The process of making images is my way of constantly and consistently moving forward through life. In a world with so much ugly I strive to put a little beauty back into it.

It hasn’t always been this way. In fact in the beginning I saw it as an easy major in college. Just something a lazy kid could do to appease his parents “Look mom and dad I am going to college.” As I learned to transform paint and canvas into something greater, my life was transformed in the same way. Making art, and helping others to make it, has overtime become my purpose.

My earliest artistic memory was oddly enough not at a museum, but at the public library. They had two murals, done with such thick paint that they became relief sculptures. Although it wasn’t allowed, I can remember touching the surface of the work and feeling a connection to it. In my own work I strive to create a beautiful surface.

Regardless of the subject matter I always strive to make beautiful marks. Inspired by great artists of the past and present I strive for variety in any and every way. To achieve this variety I employ a variety of techniques. I employ everything from scraping, squeegeeing, to troweling on the paint. And although I consider myself a realist, I treat every area of the painting as its own abstract work.  

The subject, or rather subjects, of my work mainly revolve around still life. I find still life gives me ultimate control over composition, and lighting. In this way I can determine the mood, and underlying expression of my work. In my work I am trying to capture what I felt from that earliest artistic memory. I don't recall the narrative, or what the purpose of the paintings were. Instead I am left recalling elements of surface, and the feeling the paintings gave me. In the end the goal of my work is to inspire. To help others find the path that has brought so much joy and meaning into my life.

Available Work

Biography

Born in 1988, Brian found art relatively late in life. It wasn’t until his first year of college at Brigham Young University - Idaho, that he discovered his passion for the arts. In 2014, Brian received his BFA, and he credits the knowledgeable and student-oriented faculty of the BYUI art department for giving him "the tools all representational artist must have to open the door to communicating in the visual arts". In 2019 Brian earned a Masters in Fine Art - Painting from the Academy of Art University. Along the way Brian has earned numerous awards and honors, including first place in the Oil Painters of America Summer Online Showcase and first place in the Art Grows Rexburg Annual Show. In 2016, Brian was highlighted as an 'Artist to Watch' when he was featured in Southwest Art’s 21 Under 31 annual showcase.

Brian currently lives in Rexburg Idaho, where he takes great pride as an instructor of Fine Art at BYU-I. He lives with his angel of a wife, Samantha, and his two sons, Rockwell and Rowan.

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Exhibits and Shows

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Awards

2023 Art Grows Rexburg 1st Place

2023 American Impressionist Society Small Works Showcase Second Place

2023 Oil Painters of America 32nd National Exhibition Realism Award of Excellence

2022 Art Show International Gallery 4th Annual Still Life Show Honorable Mention

2022 American Impressionist Society: American Art Collector Award of Excellence

2022 Art Grows Rexburg 1st Place

2021 Art Grows Rexburg Guest of Honor

2020 Oil Painters of America  Western Regional Exhibition: Impressionist Award of Excellence

2019 Oil Painters of America Online Showcase: Honorable Mention

2019 Oil Painters of America Online Showcase: Honorable Mention

2019 Art Grows Rexburg 1st Place

2018 Oil Painters of America Honorable Mention Online Showcase

2018 Bold Brush Painting Competition 3rd Place

2018 Art Grows Rexburg 1st Place

2017 Two Artist Show at Meyer Gallery

2017 Two Artist Show at Astoria Fine Art

2017 Meyer Gallery Small works show

2016 Art Grows Rexburg 2nd Place

2016 Oil Painters of America 1st Place Summer Online Showcase

2016 Southwest Art's 21 under 31

2015 Oil Painters of America Honorable Mention Online Showcase

2014 and 2015 Oil Painters of America National Show and Sale

2013 and 2014 Society of Illustrators Scholastic Show