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ASA, SFCA, MASTER OPA
Neil is an internationally acclaimed artist and workshop instructor. His work was recently featured in the International Artist magazine published in Australia and circulated worldwide. He studied at the University of Calgary and the Scottsdale Artist School. He is a member of the venerable and prestigious Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, a signature member of the Alberta Society of Artists, Federation of Canadian Artists, and the first Canadian to be awarded master signature membership in the Oil Painters of America. From 1995 through 1999 he achieved "Top 100" and "Top 200" in the Arts for the Parks competition, Jackson, WY. He was a finalist in the Artist Magazine landscape competition. Neil's flower painting has been chosen for publication in "The Best of Flower Painting" North Light Books. In May 1999 Neil participated in the Carmel Art Festival Plein Air Competition held at the Pitzer Gallery in Carmel.
Neil, to his great joy, has discovered the magically liberating impact of color. Dazzling reds, yellows and blues, manganese violet, sap green, and cadmium orange are applied with loose, generous strokes, straight out of the tube.
"It's like going back to childhood," he describes. "You just put colors next to one another." Instead of tinting with black and white, Neil finds he can achieve a three-dimensional effect by mixing paint on the canvas so that certain areas sink behind the pure colors.
Neil believes color is the essence of painting. He uses an impressionistic "Alla Prima" style of painting to convey his ideas through landscapes and florals in both Plein air and studio painting.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
In order to relate to painting, to connect with it, there must be emotion. There must be passion. A painting is not merely a reproduction. It is much more than that. It must speak to the heart and soul. It is this quality of passion that is of primary importance. The passion I feel when I see beauty is the same passion I look for in my paintings. It is passion first and foremost, and then it is design, colour, the handling of paint and simplicity that come into play in the making of a work of art.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Rubaiyat Gallery - Calgary 1974
History of Ceramics in Alberta - Calgary & Edmonton 1975
Canadian Guild of Crafts - Toronto 1975
Sequoia Gallery - Edmonton 1978
Muttart Gallery - Calgary 1978
Walsh Gallery - Red Deer, Alberta 1979
Quest Gallery - Calgary 1979
Renaissance Gallery - Calgary 1982
Kiln Gallery - Bragg Creek, Alberta 1983
Wallace Gallery - Calgary 1987
Masters Gallery - Calgary 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
Medicine Hat Museum - Medicine Hat, Alberta 1995
Flower Show Tutt Street Gallery - Kelowna, British Columbia 1997
Canada House - Banff, Alberta 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
Buffalo Trails - Big Fork, Montana 1999
Scott Gallery - Edmonton 1999
Pacific Gallery - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 2000
Adele Campbell - Whistler, British Columbia 2001
West End Gallery - Edmonton 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Glenbow Museum - Calgary 1976
Annex Gallery - Edmonton 1977
Artisans - Bragg Creek 1978, 1979, 1980
Muttary Gallery - Calgary 1981
Western Art Show - Calgary 1983, 1997, 1998, 2000
Leighton Centre - Calgary 1983
Alberta Society of Artists - 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990
Sunshine Village - Banff 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990
Federation of Canadian Artists - 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2000
OCO - 1988
State of the Arts Beaver House - Edmonton 1989, 1990
Alberta College of Art - Calgary 1990
IBM - Banff 1990
Scottsdale Artists' School - Scottsdale 1992, 1993, 1994
Oil Painters of America - 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
Salmagundi Club - New York 1993, 1994, 1998
CM Russell - Great Falls, Montana - 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
Arts for the Parks - 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999
Hammond Galleries - Ohio 1996
Glenbow Museum - Calgary 1997, 1998
Hillcrest international Exhibition - California 1997
Tutt Street Gallery - Kelowna 1998
Whistler, British Columbia - 1998
Alicat Gallery - Bragg Creek - 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
Plein Air Invitational - Carmel California - 1999
Pacific Gallery - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - 1999
Adele Campbell - British Columbia - 2000, 2001
Canada House - Banff 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005
Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters - 2004, 2005
Snow Fire - Estes Park, Colorado - 2004, 2005
West End Gallery - Edmonton - 2004, 2005
Dana Gallery - Missoula, Montana 2005, 2006
Best of Plein Air Laguna Plein Air Painters
Shaoguan, China
Weng yuen, China
University of Shaoguan China
AWARDS AND HONORS
Mural Commission Petro-Chemical Plant - Joffrey, Alberta 1978
Membership Alberta Society of Artists 1984
Sunshine Village Banff purchase Awards 1987, 1988, 1989
Federation of Canadian Artists 1991
OCO - Supplied Gifts for Dignitaries 1988
Finalist Artist's Magazine 1991
Premier National Juried Exhibition OPA 1992
Signature Member Federation of Canadian Artists 1993
Non-Member Show, Salmagundi Club New York 1993
Elected Artist Member, Salmagundi Club, New York 1993
Top 100 Art for the Parks 1995, 1999
Awarded Signature Membership Oil Painters of America, First Canadian
Top 200 Art for the Parks 1996, 1997, 1998
Oil Painters of America Master, 2000
Juror of Awards, Oil Painters of America, Springville, Utah 2001
Award of Excellence Second Place - Everett Raymond Kinstler 2002
Oil Painters of America Board Member 2002 - 2005
Oil Painters of America Signature Advisory Board Chair
Co-Chair Exhibitions Oil Painters of America
Vice President Oil Painters of America 2006
Finalist Artist’s Magazine 2 Paintings 2006
Collection of the Shaoguan Museum China
Collection of the Wengyuen Museum China
Signature Member Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters
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