Meet Jay Moore | Fine artist: Landscape and wildlife painter

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

Hi Jay, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
Charles M. Russell is quoted as saying, “No man is important enough to think he is important.”

If any artist had reason to think he was important, it was Charlie Russell. During his lifetime, he had great financial success selling his paintings, he was well known by celebrities and close friends with Will Rodgers, one of the most famous celebrities of the day.

Artist get praised for their “talent” regularly, even daily, and that can go to your head if you are not careful. Then you are on the cover of magazines, awards, selling your paintings for tens of thousands of dollars and pretty soon you think you are “important”.

Every artist needs to take pride in their work, but there is a fine line between confident and cocky. In the 30 or so years in the business, I have seen many artists come and go…the ones that have continued to have successful careers, and relationships, are the ones that remain humble and down-to-earth. Pridefulness comes through in how they treat others, how they price their paintings, and even the subjects of their paintings.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I love creating art, but I also love to meet people and hear their thoughts and feedback when they see my paintings. So about 10 years ago I rented a retail space here in historic Downtown Parker, CO. The concept was, I could have have a place to work and display my art in a professional setting. Half of the space is a gallery, so that I can display my paintings, the other is my studio. Visitors can not only see the paintings, but meet the artist and hear the backstory about each work, where is was painted, and what the inspiration was derived from. Often times, a couple will come in that have been looking for artwork for a certain wall of their home for a long time without success. The space is designed to collaborate with them, to do a painting for them that is not only the perfect size, but a river or mountain that has personal significance to them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was visiting me, I would probably show them the studio and what I am working on, then we would walk over to one of the many restaurants to sit outside and listen to live music. Then the next morning we would wake up before dawn to drive an hour and a half to go fly fishing at one of the local streams. Depending on the time of year, we could go for trophy-size ranibow or brown trout. Or we might four-wheel up to a mountain lake. We would probably find a condo in the mountains over night, and then climb one of the 14ers (fourteen thousand foot peaks) along the font range. Then come to our house and sit out on the back deck around the fire pit and talk about our adventures.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Colorado institute of Art, where I received excellent instruction from Rene Bruin in life drawing and artistic

Clyde Aspevig regarded by many as the most respected living landscape painter, taught a outdoor painting workshop in the 1980s, that was a turning point in making the transition from graphic designer to landscape painter. He also agreed to critique my work on occasion.

Wilson Hurley, a landscape painting legend, was generous with his encouragement, critiques and friendship.

Website: jay@jaymoorestudio.com

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Image Credits
Photography: Timothy Gormley, Jay Moore