Luke Frazier began sculpting and drawing at a young age, encouraged by his creative father, Jesse. The two embarked upon many memorable road trips into the deserts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, where they treasure-hunted for arrowheads, interesting stones, shed antlers and lost artifacts. Luke vividly recalls camping under the stars, huddling by campfires, and listening to his father’s stories of days gone by.
The middle-child in a combined family of 16 siblings, Luke and his brothers hunted, fished, and trapped to provide for the household. Those early forays outdoors made lasting impressions and taught valuable lessons about responsibility, hard work and family bonds.
A keen observer, Luke immerses himself in his surroundings and his rugged and mature style skillfully captures the anatomy and presence of the subjects he paints. Preferring early morning or evening light, Luke creates scenes from his memories and experiences in the woods, mountains and on the water. His artistic style leans towards impressionistic or representational.
An avid sportsman, Luke has traveled from Alaska to Africa. His passions include raising and training bird dogs, hunting and fishing, and photographing wildlife in their natural habitat. All of these things have fortified his vision in what he creates. Luke loves to research his subjects and feels much can be learned from the past. “Art and history go hand-in-hand. Artists have always documented the times in which they lived. Each artist has a voice, a different point of view of the world. We appreciate the details history provides and we soak those details up, learning how our forefathers solved their questions with the tools they had. Spending time at museums, studying the masters, visiting living artists–learning all you can–is a huge and very enjoyable part of the process.”
Luke received his formal art training at Utah State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in painting and a Master of Fine Art degree in illustration. “I want to offer up the natural world from a different point of view, whether that be bombastic, nostalgic, or subtle. I feel that a well- executed work of art should have emotional power, an element that grabs the viewer by the eyeballs and punches them in the ear. I want to tell a story with my work, not by laying it all out there for the viewer, but rather by leaving questions unanswered. I am in awe of the beauty in nature, from the grandiose, to the smallest exquisite detail–the handiwork of ‘The Almighty.’”
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