Meet Andy Pelster | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andy Pelster and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andy, why did you pursue a creative career?
The route to my artistic career has been circuitous, as I didn’t pursue art as a career to begin with. Although I was known for my drawing ability in high school, when I graduated, I went to a trade school for technical drafting, believing that a career in engineering would be much more stable than one in fine art.

When I turned 45, and after a quarter century in bridge design, it suddenly dawned on me that I was past the mid-point in my career and, quite likely, my life. As often happens when people reach middle age, I began reflecting on things that I had put on the back burner while in pursuit of my career. Recognizing that I had ability and creativity that needed an outlet apart from what bridge design could provide, after twenty years of not pursuing it, I felt the urge to return to drawing.

Those early drawings were well received and I was encouraged to focus on art more intentionally. I discovered a relationship between art and engineering that is reflected in my work. While bridge design is often more analytical than artistic, it does require creative problem solving and the use of both left- and right-brain thinking. This whole-brain approach also translates well to my highly rendered representational drawings.

At first, I felt like I had lost a lot of time by spending twenty years away from drawing, and I had fallen behind in the fast-paced fine art world. Instead, what I’ve come to realize is that I was not meant to be pursuing my drawings during those years. I was meant to be doing what I was doing. What I was doing, I was doing well.

It would have been a huge struggle for me to have tried to pursue this art starting in the mid-1990s compared to now. With the internet came access to people across the globe. Easy web development, social media, and email have all made it simple and affordable to get exposure internationally. Before the internet, exposure required publication and gallery representation, and neither were nearly as easy to acquire.

Current technologies make it immensely easier to communicate with clients, and to fellowship with other artists, share ideas, and mentor each other. Likewise, it’s easy to learn new skills and find information through online resources. It’s also much easier to capture, store, and manage reference material electronically. Working with digital reference images saves a lot of time during layout and minimizing rework and frustration.

Thinking about it gives me a greater appreciation for the artists who clawed and climbed to establish themselves before the Twenty-first Century.

Those years were spent learning the knowledge and skills that have helped to develop my art and business now. Without going into great detail, by taking the route I took, I gained much needed experience and used that time to mature, learn patience and cultivate resilience. The art world requires an astounding amount of patience and resilience.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I focus on Western Art because that genre has always held a special place in my heart. I grew up on a small cattle ranch in southeastern Colorado and my family has been involved in agriculture in the area since the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The men and women who care for and preserve Colorado’s shortgrass prairies, and put in long, hard work days to provide food for the world, deserve a tremendous amount of respect. Hollywood, and even much of the current Western Art World itself, portrays a romanticized, fantastical version of ranch life and the American West. However, I endeavor to honor the true lifestyle and culture through authentically captured snapshots of family and friends who continue to maintain it.

I strive for realism, not only in my subjects, but also through meticulous rendering. Working in dry media allows me to have the control necessary to achieve fine detail. While my primary medium is graphite, I also integrate charcoal and carbon as a means of extending my value range. Combining multiple media in this way results in an image that is not simply black and white, but is a mix of warm and cool tones. I strive for an image reminiscent of the gelatin silver prints of photographers such as Ansel Adams and Kurt Markus. This approach gives the image a nostalgic, yet timeless, feeling, even though my subjects are modern.

Many of the challenges I face I have created myself. I did not choose a genre and medium that are particularly popular along the increasingly urbanized Colorado Front Range. I would say that large, colorful paintings, which are either abstract works, or impressionist pieces in a loose, painterly style, tend to be more popular. My drawings are monochromatic and tightly rendered. Partially because of the time required to create this level of detail, my drawings are comparatively small. Graphite drawings are commonly completed on paper, which galleries and collectors tend to shy away from, due, in part, to the fact that the long-term life of the art on paper is dependent upon proper framing behind glass. Framing a drawing with matting and glass significantly increases the cost of framing, and the larger the drawing, the larger the framing cost.

But I thrive on challenge and I’m committed to staying true to the path I’ve chosen – creating authentic Western Art in graphite and charcoal.

I look for venues on the fringes between the rural Eastern Plains and the semi-rural areas along the Front Range. I sell to many rural collectors online through social media and my website. I focus on shows dedicated to the Western Art genre or on regional shows where Western Art is more common. For example, upcoming juried shows in the first half of 2023 are the Western Spirit show in Cheyenne, WY, and the Colorado Governor’s Art Show in Loveland, CO. I only participate in the local metro area shows in which I can expect to reach an audience that appreciates my technical abilities, regardless of genre. I have participated in the Lone Tree Art Expo for the last couple years. This year, I was happy to receive an honorable mention in the drawing division from juror, Collin Parson, based largely on technique and draftsmanship.

I’ve also found there are collectors that prefer monochromatic art because it suits a minimalist interior design, or works within a broad range of decor without competing with an existing color scheme. Additionally, I recently started drawing on Claybord panels, which can be varnished and framed without glass, similar to an oil or acrylic painting. In turn, this allows me to work larger for a fraction of the framing cost. These cradled panels may be hung framed or unframed, similar to a canvas, for a more modern look.

Finally, I still work full time in bridge design and draw part time, which means I have limited time to commit to fine art, but it allows more flexibility to create the art that I want to create, without compromising for financial reasons.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a very introverted person and I prefer the outdoors over crowds. For short trips, we would head to any of the many open spaces, national forests, or state parks in the area. For longer trips, I’m in my element in the seclusion of the wilderness areas, like Lost Creek or Flat Tops, especially in their quiet times during the weekdays.

Wherever I go, I’m always on the lookout for a good smoke house, a small family run place with authentic green chili, or a hole-in-the-wall with ice cold beer and local regulars lining the bar, bantering with the staff.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I owe most of my success to my wife, Connie. Over the thirty years we’ve known each other, she has always been my biggest source of both encouragement and honest feedback. She’s always supportive of my latest vision or pursuit, whatever it may be or wherever it may lead. She pushes me beyond my comfort zone and has always picked me up whenever I’ve struggled.

Professionally, I also rely heavily on the support of other local small businesses that help me present and distribute my art:

Clifford Creative Group, Monument, CO, processes my images and creates my giclee prints
Beautiful Art Picture Framing and Gallery, Parker, CO, frames and displays my art
A Cowgirl’s Heart Boutique and Gallery, Elbert, CO, displays my art and merchandise
Castle Rock Artist Cooperative (CRAC) coordinates with local venues to display local artists’ work

Website: www.arpelsterwesternart.com

Instagram: @arpelsterart

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andypelster/

Facebook: @arpelsterart

Youtube: @a.r.pelsterwesternartllc6908

Image Credits
Headshot by Wintergrass Photography, LLC, Castle Rock, CO