vast vistas across the Snake River alluvial
planes in the Grand Tetons. I also love painting
the American Southwest, such as the Grand
Canyon and Monument Valley.”
Works in the show include Ice Cream,
a winter scene of a stream that is snaking
between a snow-covered meadow and hill.
There is a lot of nuance in white scenes
like this, but it can be exceptionally hard
when there isn’t a lot of play in the values.
Nethercott has figured it out, though, and
with marvelous results. “Painting winter
scenes is a challenge because a lot of people
don’t care for the ‘cold feeling’ such paintings
can give. I was driving a canyon road when
I came around a corner, and there was the
late winter sun slamming across that icy
winter plane into a snowy bluff,” he says.
“The river below, which is a warm spring
that stays open all year, was reflecting the
cerulean blue sky, and the snow on the ridges
seems to be melting down the sides like an
ice cream sundae. I live for these incredible
flashes of beauty in the landscape.”
Nethercott uses a fairly standard process
when it comes to creating artwork. He
sketches, uses photography for details, a
small watercolor kit to capture color and
generally prefers plein air, though it’s not
always practical. In the studio he transforms
all of these elements into his magnificent
landscapes, some of them massive in size
and scope.
“I think deep in the heart of many artists
is a kind of egotism—‘I want to be the best
there ever was.’ This kind of thinking, of
course as childish as it may sound, puts you
in competition with every artist that has everlived. Can I be better than Rembrandt? Monet?”
he says. “I chuckle at myself again but then
I start a new painting and there it is—‘This is
going to be the best painting there ever was!’
Putting ego aside I hope that I can make people
feel what I feel when I see ice cream melting
down a mountain slope.”http://www.westernartcollector.comFor a direct link to the
exhibiting gallery go toIce Cream, oil, 24 x 36”
South Park Summer, oil, 40 x 80”