Linda St. Clair

Art Brokerage: Linda St. Clair American Artist: b. 1952. Linda St. Clair, born 1952, in Franklin, Tennessee, is a contemporary wildlife painter. She is best known for her portrayal of vibrant roosters, cows, and other barnyard, domestic and wild animals. Her work has been acclaimed for its ability to capture an animal's attitude and personality. Themes of pride, love and motherhood are found in her works. As a child growing up on a farm, she developed an affinity for animals and nature, and an intimate familiarity with rural life. The young St. Clair spent hours outdoors, observing the behaviors of a spectrum of animals, including the farm's dairy cows, chickens and sheep. Influenced by artists of the Southwest, St. Clair began exploring a greater variety of approaches in her own work. She began using loser brush strokes and bolder colors to convey the illusion of detail and a more contemporary perspective than earlier works. "I love the yin and yang of painting," St. Clair said. "I love contrasting very transparent, thin paint with thick textured paint; the contrast of warm and cool colors, narrow and wide strokes, dark and light." Linda's style continues to be marked by strong colors and loose brushwork, relying on her knowledge of animal anatomy to create portraits that conjure a creature's nature as much as its appearance. Most of St. Clair's paintings are completed in one sitting at her studio. To get a clearer perspective of an animal's spirit, St. Clair travels frequently to find and photograph them. She's travelled to the North Pole to study polar bears, Africa to observe elephants and zebras, and Yellowstone National Park to watch grizzly bears. Linda credits some of the appeal of her paintings to the need to return to a more simple time and reconnect with the earth. St. Clair believes that we have much to learn from animals, and her love and respect for these animals is made clear through her works.