Artist Spotlite - Interview with Don Sahli

Everybody looks for a label. I would like to be known as a painter one who painted what he saw while wandering around on his journey.

Don Sahli made the decision to become a professional artist at a very early age. By the time he was 17 years old, galleries in Texas and New Mexico were selling his paintings. Sahli has earned his living as a professional artist all his adult life. Presently, his work is represented by galleries in Colorado, North Carolina, New Mexico, Wyoming and Texas.

When I look at a painting, I want it to bring me back to when I was on the scene. I want it to convey the drama and emotion that first captured my attention, the atmosphere, and the soul of the place.

Sahli’s work contains stylistic echoes of the Russian masters, particularly evident in his uninhibited use of color, his stern originality and unique vitality. As the last apprentice to the Russian colorist, Sergei Bongart, Sahli sustains an important artistic legacy, one passed from Ilya Repin, the fountainhead of all modern Russian painting, to Nicolai Fechin, to Peter Kotov, to Sergei Bongart to Don Sahli.

My teacher taught, his teacher taught, and I wanted to keep this tradition alive and give something back.

In 1995, carrying on the legacy of his teacher, Sahli opened Sahli School of Art in Evergreen, Colorado. He lives with his wife, Cindy and their two sons, in their mountain home near the school.

Q - What medium or mediums do you work with?

A - I am an oil painter - on canvas or board - depending on the size of the painting and where I am painting - studio or plein air.

Q - How long have you been an artist? How did you get started?

A - I have been an artist all my life. I sold my first painting at age 14 or 15. When I was 17, I took my work to a gallery in Taos, NM, the gallery director accepted it and sold my work for several years. I have continued to show in galleries around the country since that time.

Q - Do you have any formal training or are you self taught?

A - I attended one year at the University of Texas, where as a freshman I signed up for senior level art classes. But the real eye opener for me was when I met my teacher, Sergie Bongart and he invited me to be his apprentice. He taught me in the “old academic way” not how to paint by formula, but how to “see.” The years I spent with him gave me the foundation to be the painter I am today.

Do you have any favorite art supplies that you would like to recommend?

A - I use a #12 long filbert hog bristle brush.

I like Classic Artists Oil Colors for paint. I buy my panels/boards from SourceTek. I use copal painting medium.

Q - Do you work with any specific styles or subject matter?

A - I was trained in the Russian School of Painting and Art of Painting. This style of painting is about color and the relationships of color. Once you understand the philosophy of Art of Painting, you can paint anything.

Q - Can you recommend any books, videos or other resources that will help new artist?

A - The Art Spirit - by Robert Henri

Q - How do you get ideas to create a piece. What inspires you?

A - Through observation of the environment where I am living, the change of color and light and atmosphere.

Color inspires me… the actual act of painting - inspires me.
Looking at great paintings - what the masters studied inspires me
When a seed sprouts from the ground -this inspires me.

Q -Are there any artists that have influenced you and why?

A - Of course, Sergei Bongart as my teacher and mentor. He also introduced me to many other historical Russian painters, Fechin, Repin, Levitan, there are too many to name. From a more recent group of painters - Timkov and Fedor Zakharov.

Q - Do you have a website you would like to share?

A - www.sahlistudio.com
This website describes my journey as a painter and features my work.

www.sahliartofpainting.com
This website describes the philosophy behind Art of Painting and features Interactive Art Instruction DVD Collection.

Q - Finally do you have any last words of advice for beginner artists?

A - LEARN TO DRAW

Paint, Paint, Paint!

Be more interested in being the best painter you can be than selling a painting.

Do not compare yourself with others, only compare yourself with yourself.

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