Artist ProfileLee Stroncek |
The Ledges Pool Oil Painting |
CLICK ON LINK ABOVE FOR MORE ORIGINALS. Lee Stroncek arrived at his painting career as many others have. His adolescent creativity was kindled and nurtured by parental support, hard work and determination. A native of Minnesota, Stroncek studied wildlife and fisheries biology at the University of Montana and the University of Alaska, and then completed two years of art instruction at Colorado State University. Stroncek's life-long obsession with natural history and the outdoor experience has influenced his sensitive portrayals of outdoor-related subjects. A full-time artist since 1980, Stroncek's works are included in private collections throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the L.L. Bean Co. of Freeport, Maine. His works have appeared in such outdoor and fine arts publications as Sports Afield, Field & Stream, Fly Fisherman, Trout, Southwest Art, Wildlife Art News, Sporting Classics, Yankee, and In-Fisherman magazines. His works were chosen for the 1985 and 1988 California Wild Trout Stamp print design. He was regional winner in the 1987 "Arts for the Parks" competition sponsored by the National Park Academy of the Arts and has shown in several "Birds in Art" exhibitions at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. Stroncek says, "I feel that attaching awards and honors to an artist's name as a means of validating his or her work is over-emphasized. Ultimately, the work should speak for itself. The viewer will know immediately if a painting came from the artist's heart or from the dubious desire to simply sell a picture with his or her name attached to it. A good painting can come out of any subject, past or present. It may be a familiar, perhaps even mundane, scene that one encounters daily or a one-time experience that so moves the artist that he or she is compelled to record the impression." |