Weaving the Western spirit into his paintings with every stroke of his brush, David Frederick Riley creates artwork that reflects his love for the spirituality of nature.
If you were to shed the constraints of time and space and find yourself in an otherworldly place — one that permits you to bond with the soul of a wild animal or an Indian chief or a cowboy — you may have just stepped into a painting by fine artist David Frederick Riley. From his use of subtle colors and hues, values and saturation, to his distinctive ethereal “spots,” Riley is a master of both brush and spirit. The animating effect is to unite the timeless and the temporal, granting us entrance into a world of beauty, intrigue, and spirituality.
Commission Piece, 54" x 54".
While it might be assumed that his paintings are an expression of an intense, penetrating disposition, in reality, the very funny and very gregarious former high school basketball player is an exceedingly friendly and engaging down-to-earth guy who has worn a variety of hats in his 40-something years and who loves to laugh.
Now based in Utah, Riley grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a world away from the bison, bears, and other Western subjects he now devotes his life to. After earning his BFA and MFA degrees from Georgia’s Savannah College of Art and Design (where he met his wife, Nealy, who is a wildlife artist), the young illustrator headed west out of geographic order — via Arizona first and then Colorado. He began building a life that would immerse him in adventure, odd jobs, and boundless learning. “[Colorado] was a ton of fun, but it didn’t make us any money and didn’t really have anything to do with art. Nealy was pregnant again, and I finally snapped out of it and realized, Oh, your window’s closing — you need to figure this out now, otherwise you’re going to be teaching ballroom dance and working at Home Depot for the rest of your life,” Riley says with a laugh. From Colorado, the couple moved to Park City, Utah, with baby in tow.
[1] Fearless, 48" x 48". [2] Big Horn
In Utah, he studied with a handful of esteemed, successful figurative artists and got serious about developing what would become his own distinctive style. “I needed a break from the complex classical portrait paintings I had been doing, so I started painting wildlife just for fun. I had this idea in my head, Go get a big canvas and some house-painting brushes and just go wild! Get loose — have fun! Throw paint around! But then this other voice in my head says, ‘Detail everything — get every eyelash!’ So, I thought, How can I please both voices? At the time it was the ‘loosen up voice’ for sure that was underserved.”
So, he says, he went to the art store and got a 4 x 5-foot canvas, went to Home Depot and got the best 99-cent house-painting brushes they had and some mineral spirits, mixed up just three colors of paint, and did a big portrait of a ram. “It was fast, fun, and expressive. I started doing these neutral wildlife paintings and splattering them with spirits to achieve an ethereal effect. In the beginning, for my reference animals, I’d go to Cabela’s with my camera and photograph the different mounts they had. The cool thing was that, unlike painting from magazine pictures, I could get the angle that I really wanted ... and the subject would hold still, which was really nice. The first time I painted a mule deer, I didn’t know the difference between it, a white-tailed deer, and an elk. I had to research every animal that I painted, and the wildlife paintings became an amalgamation of everything I had learned, but in a fun, free presentation.”
Black Foot Chief, 48" x 36".
Riley’s background in portraits allowed him to paint the animal “not only how you would see it in nature, but how you would experience it from a spiritual standpoint — one that gives you all the qualities and characteristics of the animal.” And his background in illustration allowed him to “introduce the animal into the frame from the standpoint of emotion: Was he/she timid? Confident? Curious? I found predator animals to be really easy to capture because they have such a wide range of emotion and expression. Every animal I paint has its own character so I think, How can I grab this specific moment of the animal’s life and present it accurately?”
Soft Awareness, 5" x 40".
Being out West opened other subjects and venues of interest. Riley found himself stirred by turn-of-the-century Western photographers like Edward S. Curtis. “They pretty much inspired the Native paintings, which was cool because really, painting became learning. A lot of people paint what they know. For me, I used painting to learn about things I didn’t know. When it came to Native Americans, I got to learn about their tribes, where they were located, their culture, and their history. The paintings became the excuse to learn about the West. After Native Americans, I began painting cowboys and vintage rodeo.”
But it didn’t always come easy for the artist. For a while, overexposure to the chemicals he was using left Riley very sick with an autoimmune condition. But he doesn’t regret pursuing art. “I’m absolutely grateful that I get to do this for a living,” Riley says. “I’m able to intentionally create this life, to do the impossible. I try to create the opportunity for connection — connection to the world and connection to other beings in the world. There is magic there in those moments. It’s bigger than I am, and I’m lucky to be part of it.”
Black Bear Blue, 60" x 60".
Find David Frederick Riley’s work at Aspen Grove Fine Art in Aspen, Colorado; Altamira Fine Art Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Jackson, Wyoming; Clayton Lane Fine Arts in Denver; Dick Idol Signature Gallery in Whitefish, Montana; Horton Fine Art in Avon, Colorado; Manitou Galleries in Santa Fe; Meyer Gallery in Park City, Utah; and Montana Trails Gallery in Bozeman, Montana. Visit the artist online at davidfrederickriley.com.