WALT CURLEE of Phenix City, Alabama is truly a fine artist. His oil paintings are full of detailed imagery in a realistic setting with a special signature cloud formation. “Rural Winter” is striking with the animals and trees, red barn and the old car parked outside the farm house. In his “Springtime on the Farm” he shows beautiful rolling hills with flowers and trees, an orchard and mushrooms, a farmer on his tractor plowing the curving fields, the farm off in the distance and the wonderful cloud formation in the sky. And in his “Turkey in the Hills” he uses a reversed ‘L shape’ compositional structure showing the detailed turkeys in the foreground as if on a hill and the middle ground is downhill beside the running water. Also, “Autumn Wheat Harvest” shows the rolling landscape with many creatures detailed, such as squirrels and a frog, cows in the distance as well as houses and other buildings further away. Every section of this and all his paintings are delightful and masterworks deserving of praise.
-Laurence Bradshaw, Professor of Art & Art History at the University of Nebraska, Omaha.
Coon Gap Holler- 1st place award, Big Sky category
oil on canvas, 16"x20".
The colorful world of Walt Curlee is rich in character, charm, and extraordinary detail. Fun, lighthearted energy is brought to life by his unique sense of perspective and his earthy, organic, undulating shapes.
Paintings and illustrations from me, national award winning southern Alabama fine artist painter and illustrator. Take a look at my new oil paintings series "Rural Americana".
Autumn Wheat Harvest- 1st place award, 2-D category, oil on canvas, 16"x20".
Rural Winter- Award of Excellence,
oil on gessoed art board, 16"x20".
Turkeys in the hills-Special Recognition,
oil on canvas, 16"x20".
Springtime on the Farm-Special Recognition,
oil on canvas, 16"x20".
Autumn Wheat Harvest-Special Recognition,
oil on canvas, 16"x20".
Small Town Winter Landscape
A couple on their sleigh ride home (perhads from visiting freinds or just a ride in the country), as late evening settles on the small town. Cardinals on a holly tree, a rabbit and squirrel look down from a wooded hill. Farms and mountains in the distance.
16th annual Southworks juried exhibition, A new name for me is Walt Curlee (Phenix City, AL), whose highly controlled and detailed pastoral scenes take on Currier and Ives with an almost manic precision.
-Caroline Barratt, Writer, Art Notes, Flagpole Magazine.
November 2011-Best in Show, Fall Expo 2011 hosted by Infinity Art Gallery (online). Jurors: M. M. Dupay (artist), William Harrison (artist), and Igor Kraguljac (artist).
Autumn Wheat Harvest, oil on canvas, 16"x20".
Walt 's Autumn Wheat Harvest is the winner of this year's Only Originals National Invitational -- and this painting exhibits all of the features that make this artist's work stand out in a crowd.
The viewer is transported into a whimsical world of rolling form and lively color, filled with an assortment of gentle beings.
Details add interest. In his winning piece, a toad eyes a cricket; squirrels play on a decaying tree; a single building is gray with age; a rake is left in a half-mowed field.
Through the skillful use of color, the eye is guided across the canvas. The purple in the clouds plays against the harvest's complementary gold. Green pastures vibrate against red earth. Blue sky plays against the orange shadows of a grain field, as well as orange pulp in a dead tree.
In some of Walt's works, the rolling landscape, ivy leaves in the foreground, stylized haystacks, and whipping clouds are reminiscent of creations by Thomas Hart Benton. Although the practice has faded away, artists often borrowed stylistic properties from one another, altering them to form something equally wonderful but yet unique. Although the influence of Benton (and perhaps Grant Wood) can be seen, Walt's work could be mistaken for neither. Walt Curlee speaks with his own voice, and his works are truly American originals.
-Carol Anna Fullerton-Samsel, Artist-Owner, Only Originals Gallery of Fine Art
