Dennis Liberty

I have always been a son of the West. The quality of light, the wide expanses, the high mountains, animals that inhabit the landscape: these speak to me as no other landscape on earth can. Every time I look at the land, I see something new.

Exploration of color is my my eternal fascination. In this I feel a kinship with Monet, Matisse, Pollock, Rothko and Louis. The western landscape provides me the perfect opportunity to explore color.

Between 2008–2020, most of my paintings' themes have centered on landscapes of the American West and to a much lesser extent, figure drawings created during the live model weekly drawing sessions at Third Street Arts in Albuquerque.

Borders, boundaries, edges, and the places where things meet have been constants in my work since I picked up a pencil. In nature, this is the most obvious place where two disparate elements meet – the crest of the mountains against the sky, a tree interrupting the vastness of the plains, the faintest tracks of wildlife on the edges of an arroyo.

Short film: Dennis Liberty: Landscapes of The American West

I've reached an age where I can look back and reflect on all the artwork I have created since I told the world at age 11, “I am an artist.” During 2021-22, I took the opportunity to wander through the thousands of slides and photos I took of landscapes and other scenes from the 1960s to the 1990s. I noticed that I hadn’t used human or animal models in my paintings for a very long time. I've reexamined images that I painted previously to figure out what worked. I've also discovered images that resonate with me now, that didn't captivate me originally. Additionally, my skills have improved since the 1970s. Even so, I am still learning how to manipulate paint.

Backyard Buddy 2020
Oil on linen, 11 x 14 in

As I sat in my backyard reading each morning this past spring and early summer, BunBun arrived to inspect me. For over a month, BunBun wandered around the yard nibbling on the weeds, not afraid of me at all. I eventually decided to bring the camera along with my book and took a variety of photos of BunBun. This rabbit was perfect and I knew how to paint it from start to finish. I couldn’t resist the Albrecht Durer theme. Everything was aimed towards structurally enhancing BunBun and making it entirely the center of interest. The background was challenging, however, as it was imagined from the grasses I’ve painted before like, All Flesh Is Grass - Las Comadres No. 1. I'm especially proud of BunBun’s eye: how I captured the highlights, gentleness and beauty. I feel this is the best eye I've ever painted. In September, BunBun became bored with me and the backyard scenery and now hangs out in the front yard. I am already excited to meet the next generation of BunBuns.

Winter Visitor 2020
Oil on linen, 11 x 14 in.

In January 1975, I was looking at photos of a snow scene with fresh animal tracks but was unable to find the critter in the photo. At first glance I thought it was a rabbit but the footprints were wrong. As I reexamined the photo, I eventually saw a tail in the tracks and realized it was a mouse. I am not a photorealist painter in the same league as Joseph Raffael. The more I examine an image, the deeper I see the color components, the light and structure that are there. My goal is to change the image into a painting and not just reproduce a photo. With this painting, it was important to capture the pink blush of sunlight on the snow.

I originally painted this image in watercolor. Forty-five years later, I returned to this perfect image and repainted it in oil. I'm quite happy with both. They were each learning experiences.

Whimsical Art + Fine Art & More!

I have always made art that fell outside of the Fine Art category. The concept art I made during The Pewter Collectibles Years (ca. 1979-1994) have been given new life by adding color and transitioning to new media, but whimsey never grows old. The creatures from that menagerie are excited to entertain a whole new generation. I will be presenting them here, some humorous, some silly, and some more of a high fantasy bent – but all for your enjoyment.

In the DennisLibertyToo shop you will find affordably priced artworks that fit into multiple categories of themes, styles and mediums. You will be able to buy ready-to-hang giclée prints, a variety of products for home & lifestyle, accessories, fun things for babies and children, mugs & drinkware, and holiday-themed items.

Nailing down mercury

When trying to pigeonhole the styles of artwork I’ve made over the years, family and friends say I “defy description.” At various times all of these labels have been applied to me and my artwork:

• photographer, cartoonist,
• plein air and landscape painter,
• abstract and non-objective artist
• ceramic, wood, and plaster sculptor,
• fantasy collectibles designer,
• muralist, illustrator,
• poet, memoirist,
• jewelry maker, forger,
• and more.

Throughout my entire career as an artist I have done all of these activities concurrently, moving among them as inspiration and opportunity call. As with most activities, the style of my artwork the public sees depends on what happens to be most visible at the moment.

Among the many things I have not yet nailed down are portraiture, botany and reading music. I am not in the same league as Leonardo da Vinci, but the breadth and variety of my skills and interests wander just as far.

I make art. My tiny team will help you with everything else including answering your questions.

They may not be able to respond to you immediately because they have day jobs. Thanks in advance for your patience.

• Email

  dennis@dennisliberty.com
  

• Phone

  (505) 345-3254
  Please leave a message

• Address

  125 Green Valley Rd NW
  Los Ranchos, NM 87107-6105
  
  Presently, no visitors are allowed at my studio.