Biography

A young and accomplished landscape painter, Bryan is currently working out of his Bay Area studio and teaching in the Graduate School at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. The practice of painting on location has allowed him to develop greater sensitivity to his subject matter and capture a truer sense of light, texture, and distance. Plein air studies have become his preferred means of recording impressions and feelings of natural settings. These studies have enabled him to create larger studio paintings possessing a genuine sense of atmosphere and mood. His work continues to evolve as a combination of traditional techniques and personal innovation.  Time spent outdoors observing and pondering nature has become an essential part of his creative process.

Bryan most recently won “Best of Show” at the prestigious 2009 Laguna Plein Air Invitational and “Best of Show” at the 2009 Los Gatos Plein Air Festival. He also won Second Place, Emerging Artist, and Honorable Mention at the 2009 Carmel Plein Air Festival.  Bryan has been featured as one of ten “Artists To Watch” in the January 2009 issue of the Southwest Art Magazine and has most recently had a feature article in the 2009 Fall issue of American Artist Workshop Magazine and was one of “Today’s Masters” in the March/April 2009 issue of the Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine. In 2007, Bryan exhibited in a large two-person show at the Bakersfield Museum of Art.  He was featured in Artist’s Magazine’s 2007 ‘25 Under 40’ article which recognizes emerging artists on a national scale and was a finalist in their 2008 national competition. Additionally, Bryan won Second Place in the 2008 Alameda Plein Air show, First Place in the 2006 Antioch Plein Air Festival, and Third Place in the 2005 San Luis Obispo Plein Air Show. His work was chosen for the 2008 and 2009 International Salon in San Antonio Texas and for the 2008 National Paint the Parks traveling exhibition.  He is a member of Oil Painters of America and has participated in the 2005 and 2007, 2008 National Juried Exhibitions, and the 2006 Western Regional. Bryan has also participated in the 2006 and 2007 Spring Salons in Springville Utah.  Bryan is represented by galleries in Utah, California and Oklahoma and his work is found in private and corporate collections around the country. 

Bryan was born in Portland, Oregon. He received his BA from Brigham Young University in 2001 and his MFA from the Academy of Art University in 2005.

Artist Statement

I believe the beauty of nature can inspire and uplift the human heart and mind. I personally believe in a powerful, wise, and loving Creator who made the earth beautiful for our benefit; therefore, I see the beauty of the landscape as an expression of love towards us. I believe a successful painting becomes not just a depiction of the physical, but a medium for connecting with our own spiritual natures.

My work continues to evolve as a combination of traditional techniques and personal innovation. In my paintings, I place particular importance on the light, atmosphere and surface quality of the painting. For me, a brushstroke should convey an energy as well as an accurate physical depiction of time and place. Through the process of placing each stroke I work to convey my emotions and ideas of the landscape; endowing the piece with an awareness of place as well as a poetic and spiritual mood.

-Bryan Mark Taylor