Jeffrey T. Larson

Artful Painter Podcast

Oct 20

Written By Carl Olson

Finding Deeper Beauty

Episode 46

Episode length: 1 hour, 18 minutes

Also available on:
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Jeffrey T. Larson’s evocative paintings are stunning visual essays of beauty. His contemporary paintings are deeply rooted in academic realism. Because of the extremes in seasons in his home state of Minnesota, Jeffrey spends his time painting outdoors in its all-too-brief warm summers. His outdoor paintings glow and shimmer with the drama of light. Whether the scene is of a woman silhouetted against warm sunlight hanging laundry to dry outdoors, or a young boy is wading through a cool, sparkling stream – your eye is drawn to the beauty of the moment captured in Jeffrey’s expressive impressionistic brushwork.

As the air chills and it becomes too cold to paint outdoors, Jeffrey turns to painting indoors. Carefully staged, each still life brims with quiet beauty and drama. His subject can be a rack of artisan bread loaves, or an old Art Deco style Electrolux vacuum cleaner, or a pack of clementines still in their plastic packaging, or an old child’s tricycle all rusted and worn. Meticulously painted and finished - sometimes over a period of several months, these paintings never appear stiff. They are monumental works of beauty.

Jeffrey T. Larson was born in 1962 in Two Harbors, Minnesota, and grew up in the Twin Cities. He was trained in the manner of the Old Masters at the prestigious Atelier Lack – founded by artist Richard Lack. It was a place whose traditions and training methods reached back through impressionism and the 19th-century French academies. Jeffrey's training provided a firm foundation in the fundamentals that allowed his artistic voice to flourish. The road to becoming a professional artist was not an easy one. Jeffrey is quick to acknowledge he often lived on the edge of frustration. In time he learned to enjoy the business side of being an artist and his success at making a living as an artist grew as he and his wife Heidi – also an artist. His story is beautifully told in filmmaker Joe Hawkins’ documentary titled: Jeffrey T. Larson.

Jeffery’s paintings may at first invoke a sense of nostalgia in the viewer. Yet, his paintings are timeless. The subject matter at first may seem prosaic and mundane, but there is clearly much more present in the painting. Jeffrey draws you into the painting and invites you to take a closer look and observe what he has found. And, as you stand there immersed in experiencing that painting, Jeffrey T. Larson is already off on his way on another mission to finding deeper beauty.