are as a people, but also just like you and me.”
The Montana painter will unveil new
paintings at a show opening August 22 at the
Legacy Gallery in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The
show, a smaller “artist focus” event that Legacy
is presenting, will feature roughly nine new
pieces, including works such as On Bear Lake, a
magnificent scene with two Native Americans on
horseback as they approach an emerald-colored
lake. The work is a daring experimentation in
color. A lesser artist would have easily painted
a normal lake and called it a day, but Oelze
wanted to explore the shimmering surface of
those mountain lakes, even if it required delicate
attention that would delay the finished painting.
“It was a little tricky, given the fact that lake
has this really strong turquoise color. I didn’t
want the color fighting with the rest of the
painting, so I had to bring it all into focus so no
part was struggling for dominance. Some days
I would push it too far in one direction and then
I would push it back the other way,” he says. “It
wasn’t an easy painting to do. In fact, I almost
scraped it all and started over. But I perseveredand was hopeful that it worked.”
Other works in the show include His Medicine
is Strong, a portrait of a Native American figure,
and Quandary, which shows a trapper is hiding
behind an uprooted tree as four Native American
riders pause at a stream in the background.
Oelze’s new show continues through
September 1.His Medicine
is Strong,
oil, 30 x 22”http://www.westernartcollector.comFor a direct link to the
exhibiting gallery go to