Steven Austin

Painting the landscape offers direct interaction to the physical forces of nature, between land and atmosphere, mass and energy. While there is beauty in the visual, my focus is on the emotive experience, be it the drama and violence of the weather, or the stillness of land and sea in juxtaposition to the restlessness of atmosphere. My role as a painter is to access the subjective essence of a scene and express it in a manner that allows the viewer to become a participant in what I consider pure creation. I consider all objects of the natural world with an equal level of scrutiny and importance. When I consider the land, I do not see an inert mass. Rather, I sense great energies at work, dynamic movement more akin to an ocean, or a living organism in a constant state of change. This energy permeates the Sangre de Cristos. On indigo nights it illuminates galaxies on a large scale and the tail of a tiny firefly on a smaller one. The source of that light is of the same origin, its release sublime. Depicting this energy and the physical form it manifests is my singular goal as a painter.
I generally work at a large-to-medium scale, which compliments the visual impact of my paintings and allows them to be easily perceived from a distanc...

Ringling School of art and Design
Atlanta College of Art

2025, Juried into the Santa Fe Gallery Association's 2026 Artist Catalog

2025, 41st Annual All Colorado Art Show Curtis Arts Center, Greenwood Village, CO
2024, Juried into the Santa Fe Gallery Association's 2025 Artist Catalog
2024, Seed, Juried Exhibition 2024 at BRDG Project Gallery, Denver
2024, 40th Annual All Colorado Art Show Curtis Arts Center, Greenwood Village, CO

2023, 39th Annual All Colorado Art Show Curtis Arts Center, Greenwood Village, CO

2022 Annual Littleton Museum exhibit

2022 Annual Lone Tree Art Expo

2021, Third Annual Group Show at D’art Gallery

2018 One-man show: Patterns of Chaos in Nature – The Medical Arts at Spark Gallery, Denver
2017 One-man show: Non-linear Realities, Valkarie Gallery, Denver

2017 Annual group show at the Brighton Armory, Boulder