Wayne
Waldron is an internationally recognized self-taught artist
whose larger work has been honored with over 500 awards
– juried by many of America’s leading museum
and art institution directors. Most recently, he received
the Best of Show award at the Oil Painters of America's
2006 Eastern Regional Exhibit.
Since
1992, he has become equally proficient and successful
with work in small and miniature format. In 2004, he received
the Judge’s Award of Excellence at the “Third
Exhibition of the World Federation of Miniaturists”
held at the Smithsonian's International Gallery in Washington,
D.C. – an event held every four years in a different
country. His painting was selected from over a thousand
works from around the world, and he was one of only three
award-winning painters from North America.
He
is an elected Fellow of Great Britain’s prestigious
Royal Society of Arts – a distinction held by few
American artists and received in recognition of nationally
earned critical respect and exceptional achievements in
the professional fine art field.
At
one point early on, Waldron had thought of becoming an
archeologist, but once he began painting in oil at age
13, he recognized his life’s path would be that
of an artist, which he has pursued full-time for over
25 years. During that time, he successfully undertook
the challenge of watercolor and earned national and international
honors. Since 2000, he has primarily worked in oil, acrylic
and pencil – receiving the same level of recognition.
He
has demonstrated an ability to paint a variety of subject
matter: landscape, still life, floral, birds, and wildlife.
“A prize find,” was the way his full range
and body of work was described in a Chicago Tribune article.
He
is known for his atmospheric woodland landscapes, often
centering on country paths done in a Tonalist manner with
marked Impressionistic influence. Of his painting, “Autumn
in Yellowwood,” art critic, Norma MacLeod wrote:
“ . . . it is a validation of the effect of light
commanding atmosphere. The painting speaks its own language
and initiates its own tempo as Wagoner dares us: “Stand
still. The forest knows where you are. You must let it
find you.”
In
addition to George Inness, Waldron paintings have also
been compared to work of Frederik Grue. They highlight
natural drama with his treatment of light and shadow,
simultaneously revealing a profound depth of feeling.
In the words of the venerable art critic, Lydia Finkelstein,
“Waldron’s small landscapes echo the moods
of the American tonalist movement of the late 19th and
early 20th century, which idealized nature into a symphony
of chromatic primary and complementary colors.”
Often,
artists spend a lifetime in the quest for artistic identity.
Waldron has emerged from America’s immense tapestry
of influences with a distinctive identity all his own.
Roland
Wayne Waldron was born in the south-central Indiana village
of Oolitic, near the Historic Brown County Art Colony
– one of six formed in the United States a century
ago. He lives and maintains a studio and gallery there
today, and is inspired daily from the lush hills, blue
haze and mysterious aura of the place.
