Local Artist Displays at City Hall

Reception at Victor City Art Gallery Celebrates Stef Schroeder.

STEF SCHROEDER

Tetonia, Idaho resident, Stef Schroeder, has studied landscape painting for several years with a dedicated daily practice and focus since early 2023. Her current preferred mediums are oil paint and gouache.

Stef accredits her growing knowledge of art principles and painting techniques to workshops facilitated by artists including Robert Moore, Julie Davis, and Aimee Erickson. She has also been educated by world-renowned, local landscape painter, Scott Christensen through in-person workshops and his online course, Adventures of Painting.

The artist’s website, stefschroeder.com, is regularly updated with new works, and you can often see her paintings hanging along with other local artists at the Teton Arts Council Gallery, located in The Community Center in Driggs, Idaho.

 ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I love to paint particularly Western Subjects. The things that make our valley so unique and beautiful: big skies with big clouds, mountain trails and country roads, fields of scrubby sage, and tall grass. My finished paintings come both from studies created in the field and photos snapped when inspired. Noticing the everyday moments in a beautiful place. Since painting landscapes, I often find myself driving home from town or hiking with a friend and thinking “Oh, that’s so beautiful! I want to paint that.”

The difficulty lies in simplifying an incredibly complex subject matter using the language of paint. I try to convey to the viewer what drew me to the scene. Was it the warmth of the light? The contrast of the cerulean sky with the ochre fields? The dense spring cumulus clouds? I reference the landscape masters of the early 20th century, including Edgar Payne, William Wendt, and John Carlson, for inspiration and clues to craftsmanship.

"Beauty is no material thing. Beauty cannot be copied. Beauty is the sensation of pleasure on the mind of the seer. No thing is beautiful. But all things await the sensitive and imaginative mind that may be aroused to pleasurable emotion at sight of them. This is beauty." ~ Robert Henri

A public reception will be held on January 21, 2025, 4-6 p.m.