Ron Elstad
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Biography of Ron Elstad, Academic Impressionist
Year 2006
Ron Elstad taught himself his trade as he went along during his ten years as a freelance illustrator. He then turned his efforts towards his long time dream of being a painterly-style fine artist. He began his studying with Dan McCaw for a year, then continuing on to teach himself by way of making intense studies directly from the live work of well-known turn-of-the-century impressionists. These efforts led him to the distinct honor of helping to install the first show of historic paintings in the Joan Irvine Museum. The emotional inspiration received from these great masters, along with his own spirit of expression, brought forth a strong creative force from within him to produce the quality and beauty found in his work today.
Ron Elstad has a sincere desire to preserve the tradition and quality of the brush work and rich color which are found in the paintings of the turn-of-the-century impressionists. He himself takes great pride in adhering to the integrity that was once common practice by these great masters. Moreover, Elstad is secure in the belief that this integral practice will give his paintings a greater chance to withstanding the proverbial test of time.
Because of the hard work and dedication invested by Elstad, he went to achieve a higher degree of excellence which is realized by his numerous awards. Among these awards are two gold medals and a best in show, which he won at the Society of Illustrators’ prestigious Annual Illustrations West Show in 1989. Being a best in show winner, he was presented with the “Joseph Morgan Henniger Award.” This award was the highest and most prestigious award given to an illustrator on the west coast at the time. Elstad’s “best of show” painting received further acclaim when it was published full page in Communications Art Magazine, which is a highly regarded publication in the industry. Later he went to win a bronze award from the Art of California magazine’s Discovery Awards competition in 1993-94. Along with this he was accepted by a jury of his peers to participate in the first, second and fourth annual Oil Painters of America exhibit in Chicago, Illinois. From this he was awarded the honor and privilege of signature membership status.
Elstad was once represented by the Redfern Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA, the Joan Irvine Smith Fine Arts Gallery, also located in Laguna Beach, as well as the Trailside Gallery in Carmel, CA and the Taos Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ. Today he id represented by the Susanne Hollis Gallery located in old South Pasadena CA, the Wendt Gallery located in Laguna Beach, CA, The Morseburg Gallery located in West Hollywood, CA, as well as Montana Trails Gallery in Bozeman, MT.
A brief selection of Elstad’s esteemed collectors include: Ms. Joan Irvine Smith; who was once noted by Art and Antiques Magazine as being one of the top one hundred collectors, Mr. Jean Stern-esteemed Historian, Author and Director of the Joan Irvine Smith Fine Arts Museum, Mr. J.P. Warmington-President, Director, and Chairman of the Board Of Warmington Homes and the United States Air Force. Other collectors are found as far away as Japan.
Moreover, Elstad is proud to be a long standing artist member of the renowned California Art Club since 1993, which was first founded in 1909.
Artist Statement
By Ron Elstad
As a person as well as an artist, I am truly fascinated with the wilderness and all its individual aspects. But foremost, I love the trees. I have a great deal of respect their never yielding ability to take all of nature’s wows only to give back the very air we breath. I find being out with the trees in the wilderness to be very peaceful and spiritually rewarding experience. It is for this reason I chose the aspects of nature to be my genre. My goal is to convey my personal experiences and emotional feeling through my paintings.
What excites me directly as a painter is the dynamic aspect qualities of design. I believe these aspects are the very foundation for the longevity of a successful painting. I find these aspects formulate better for me when I apply them to a composition which is close up to the subject rather than a panoramic view. However, I would strongly consider a panoramic view if it embodies those design qualities which get me emotionally excited.
The subject alone is never my first concern when it comes to choosing what I am going to paint. What’s most important to me is that the composition should evoke a positive emotional response within me, and it matches up to all the aspects of a great design. However, this is still not enough for me. For I find doing the same painting over and over again to be laboring and boring. It’s for this reason I like to constantly explore all my options. For its these options that bring forth a great deal of variety to how and what I might paint. Variety is the very thing that keeps me going and emotionally alive as a painter. “Painting is not just a livelihood…it’s my life.”
In producing my paintings, I work wet into wet; I mix the pure tube colors directly on the canvas with the use of dynamic brush and palette knife strokes. I apply the paint in a thick impasto style. This style enables me to bring a great deal of interest to the surface of the canvas with lively texture. I find that it’s the surface quality which offers another dimension to the over all success of a painting. I believe my design style and brush work are the foremost distinctive qualities of my work.
I also believe in producing the highest quality of work possible. I do this not only because its my nature, but because I want to be a part of keeping our artistic heritage alive. I believe it’s very important that we as artists do our level best to keep from diluting the quality of work which came before us. This is why I strive earnestly to produce the quality of work to be no less than equal to those masters of the turn-of-the-century and before.
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