Deon Matzen,  Oil & Watercolor
About the Artists:

For the most part my work specializes in all things rural, old rusty trucks, tumbling barns, wildlife, and more.  I love the rural scene and painting "Vanishing Rural America" is my goal.  Some of the works aren't exactly in that genre, but most are.  I hope that you enjoy!---Deon Matzen

It's all about color and value. For me, living in the mostly dreary Northwest I need color and I need values that indicate to me that maybe sometime the sun shone on the subject I was painting. Grey days make for grey paintings and this, to me, is boring. I guess, to some extent, I am creating a fantasy, one of sunshine.

Though it is not always grey and cloudy here, when the sun does shine, either I am out painting or taking photos of subjects I would like to paint on rainy, indoor days. I also spend a lot of time observing what exactly happens when the sun shines. How much value (light and darkness) difference is there on a sunny day? How do shadows fall from an object? What kinds of anomalies are there in the sunshine that we do not see on grey days? All of these things are on my mind when the sun DOES come out!

My sideline is painting pet portraits. These have been very successful and the joy or tears that my paintings bring to the commissioners brings happiness to me. I have had both reactions, but have never had a commission that didn't exceed its mark of recreating a beloved friend of the family be it cat or dog.
I also paint “forgeries” from the old masters and have received commissions for pieces which have images in the public domain. It is important that they be public when ordering a “forgery” commission, i.e. the original artist must have died at least 70 years previously.  If you have an artist that you particularly like, contact me for an estimate.

Painting is my life and I spend as much time as possible doing it. I create several hundred pieces per year. I paint for personal joy, though it is always a pleasure when someone out there wants a piece of my creativity.

My favorite subject is beat up, abandoned, rusting, and falling apart, trucks. I want to see the paint peeling in my painting. This is part of my desire to portray the vanishing American farm. I have painted many landscapes of old farms, decrepit barns, and the detritus left after the farm has failed, the family has left.
Whidbey Art Gallery ~ 220 2nd Street, Langley WA 98260 ~ (360) 221-7675   whidbeyartgallery@gmail.com
Hours:   Daily   10AM - 5PM