Artist’s Statement
Painting is my attempt to hold onto the memory of a sunset or the sound of waves crashing. On location, I respond in-the-moment. In the studio, I sort it all out. It’s the difference between improvisation and composing. I need both.
Every summer I haul my painting gear up into the mountains. I paint where the muse inspires and sleep on the ground wherever I end up. I don’t do it to prove anything. I do it because it brings me closest to myself. It’s quiet up there in the wilderness, and for a time, it’s quiet within.
Maybe that’s why we still look at paintings. Our lives are noisy, and a painting quiets us. At its best, art is a portal that connects artist to viewer. It’s a shared story.
I live in a small town in the Rocky Mountains. I’m also a stage actor, playwright, and poet. It all gets mixed up, as it should.
Artist’s Biography
Aaron Schuerr has embarked on solo plein air painting treks across the Grand Canyon, over the Beartooth Mountains, and deep into the alpine wilderness areas of Montana and Colorado. His favorite plein air season is winter, despite deep snow, cold fingers, and blinding light. It’s worth the trouble, he believes, if it gets him closer to something true.
Schuerr has appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show, interviewed about his plein air paintings. His work has been featured in publications as diverse as The Daily Telegraph, The Times of London, Bored Panda, My Modern Met, Southwest Art, Art of the West, Big Sky Journal, Plein Air Magazine, Western Art and Architecture, and American Art Collector. Schuerr is a frequent contributing writer to The Pastel Journal and The Artist Magazine. He has won numerous awards, including Best of Show for Montana Plein Air, Best Pastel for the Plein Air Salon, and numerous awards for the Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational. He is represented by Illume Gallery West, Montana Trails Gallery, Huse/Skelly Fine Art Gallery, and Brushworks Gallery. Schuerr resides in Livingston, Montana with his wife and three sons. He is also a stage actor, poet, and playwright.