In a place where the land is as vast and beautiful as Saskatchewan, it is not surprising to find there are a number of painters who make their home in these parts.
While painters may be many, few gain the renown carried by Saskatchewan painter, Eltje Degenhart.
Degenhart was born in the Netherlands and he immigrated to Canada with his family at the tender age of two, settling into the community that would serve as home to the young artist for many of the following years, Weyburn.
Showing early promise in the arts as a young man, Degenhart showed himself to be a dedicated young artist, and took the opportunity to pursue education in the field of visual arts when the time came.
Attending the Alberta Academy of Fine Arts in Edmonton, AB, Degenhart managed the first short while well, but as time passed, so did his sense of isolation from his family and friends.
As with many young students, the sense of separation eventually became too much for him, and he pulled up stakes and moved back to his beloved Moose Mountains.
"I like to think that my paintings lean towards the impressionist," Degenhart said of his work. "But it isn't substantially impressionist. As well, as I get older, I've found I am more tempted to try to head off in a new direction. Just be more adventurous."
Impressionism is the school of painting where the artist attempts to create the impression depth and line through the use of colour and light.
"My favourite of the classic painters is Monet," said Degenhart of his idols. "I guess out of the contemporary painters I would have to say Ted Godwin is pretty good. And deceased just a short time ago, a long time friend, Bob Boyer, is one of the contemporary painters I most respected."
While he does enjoy the more traditional painters, Degenhart admits to an appreciation for abstract work, but 'good abstract work' as he puts it.
Working mostly in acrylic on canvas, Degenhart has captured the attention of a wide selection of art appreciators and critics.
Using a variety of canvas sizes and shapes, including some extremely long but narrow canvases, Degenhart has made his name by capturing the essence of the Canadian western landscape.
Especially in his wide and narrow pieces, Degenhart has managed to create pieces that accurately communicate to the viewer the awe-inspiring breadth of the prairie landscapes in such a way as to transport the viewer into rolling foothills, vast, level plains, and the brushy wilderness that residents of the Moose Mountain region would be well familiar with.
Not that the wide-open prairie is Degenhart's sole representations.
Thickly wooded forest scenes, secluded lakes, and flowering hillsides more familiar to the north of Saskatchewan also populate the productive artist's long list of works.
"I enjoy painting these kinds of wilderness and pastoral scenes, because there is a beauty and serenity in them that, as an artist, really challenges me to capture in paint," Degenhart said.
"I enjoy challenges in my work, and the use of the long, narrow canvases is an example of some of the steps I have taken to try and increase my ability to translate the wide-open spaces of the prairies to the people who view the works."
As befits his Impressionist leanings, Degenhart has a flair in his use of colour to help communicate his images to the viewer.
Holding true to the colours of nature, Degenhart blends these natural tones in such a way to create a smooth and flawless flow within his paintings, where sky and cloud, shrub and grass seem to come together in a perfect balance.
One of his more interesting recent works was the triptych (a three-canvas painting) titled 'In the Wild.'
This piece illustrates a rolling landscape in the full bloom of a sunny spring day.
Vibrantly red poppies, populated throughout the first two canvases and dominating the third, are the first subjects to draw the eye.
Upon closer inspection the delicate hues of violets and purples of other flowering plants begin to take focus, as do smaller blooms in whites and yellows and pinks.
Behind this riotous colour, the mellow blended greens speak of mature trees in the distance, and behind these lush boughs, the faintest hints of blues and whites transmit the impression of white, fluffy clouds in an azure sky.
"Once you become a working artist, and you've signed on with a gallery, you learn tricks along the way that help you improve your skill and speed at the canvas," Degenhart said. "It is a job, and you do have to produce work, so the act of painting changes a little bit because you can't be as leisurely with your work as you might otherwise be."
"A lot of times when you start something, you have an image in mind that you are trying to get down, but as you paint, the painting sort-of takes over, and tells you what it is that you are painting, as opposed to the other way around," Degenhart said. "In cases like that, you learn to just go with your instinct and follow the painting where it wants to go, instead of trying to force it to conform with your pre-conceived image."
Degenhart has also been experimenting with his work, and is beginning to move in other directions in terms of his media and subject matter.
"I've become interested in some of the multi-media work that I've seen around," Degenhart said. "I have been looking into combining painting and photography, as well as other expressive mediums."
"It is a little hard to move off and explore new things when you have been working in one way for so long," Degenhart said. "But as I had said earlier, I like being challenged in my work, so this is an interesting challenge for me."
"For a time I was working with three different galleries, and keeping them stocked with work took a fair bit of time," Degenhart said. "Now I'm only producing for one gallery, and with the extra time I have, I am trying to continue this experimentation in other forms of art."
"It is that ability to express my thoughts that always keeps art exciting for me, and I'm really happy to have found a new challenge."
Degenhart summers in the Moose Mountains, and spends his winters in Saskatoon.
Presently, the Assiniboia Gallery in Regina is the gallery that is handling Degenhart's works.
Visit www.assiniboia.com and follow the links to Eltje Degenhart's section to view a wide selection of his present works.
