Duane Eells
Oil Painting
Duane Eells - self portrait
Duane Eells is an American portrait, figurative and landscape painter. His work is inspired by his love of the great masters of the past. He strives to find beauty, emotion and essence in his art, combining traditional methods balanced with contemporary art styles.
After a sojourn in Arizona, Eells has created a new body of work. During his time there, the dramatic landscapes of the Saguaro deserts profoundly influenced his painting style. He explored vast arrays of colors and forms in nature, simplifying shapes and exaggerating hues to capture the essence of the desert environment. This period led him to ponder: “What if you see all the colors of a season in a single landscape, in a single moment?” Eells calls these new works formal abstractions graphically portrayed and often juxtaposed with traditional realism depicting the people of the land.
His mother, an oil painter, exposed him to the fine arts early, and enrolled him in painting and drawing classes at the age of 10. Eells studied art and design at California State University Northridge, Humboldt State University and Ventura College in California.
He is an avid learner and is in constant pursuit of artistic growth. Eells has exhibited his work at a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. His paintings and drawings hang in private collections throughout the world. Eells has won several awards for his portrait paintings including third place in the prestigious Portrait Society of America members competition. Eells works out of his studio in Ojai, California.
www.eells.com
duane@eells.com
