ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - BOB FISHER
Bob was trained as an oil painter by second generation Abstract-Expressionists. From them he learned composition, color control, process and art theory that still underpins the work he does now. Bob returned to realism in 1990 and began working seriously with the landscape, especially that of eastern Washington and Oregon where vastness, light and geology play with and against each other. Landscape allows him to explore the space that the landforms and air occupy, and how they both change with time, season and weather. To paraphrase Henri Matisse’s famous quote, “I don’t paint things, I paint the space between things.” This is what Bob's work is really about.

Bob Fisher
Growing up my first love was architecture. I realized later that it was the drawing of the houses I’d planned that really interested me. During a stint as an Army medic in Germany, I was exposed to the integration of art into daily life that I seldom saw in the U.S., and upon my return I studied studio art and art history at the University of Washington, and attended graduate school at Central Washington University.

I taught studio art and art history at Yakima Valley College for thirty years. During that time it was difficult to be a practicing studio artist, but I nonetheless had a show every two years or so. My wife Carol is also an artist and we have shown together numerous times. We are the yin and yang – my work is very controlled, her work is much more expressive. We complement each other and people like the contrast of seeing our work together.

I was trained as an oil painter by second generation Abstract-Expressionists. From them I learned composition, color control, process and art theory that still underpins the work I do now. I returned to realism in 1990, and began working seriously with dry pastel in 2002. Pastel is very seductive and I love the subtlety that the medium provides.

My work centers on the landscape, and especially that of eastern Washington and Oregon where vastness, light and geology play with and against each other. Landscape allows me to explore the space that the landforms and air occupy, and how they both change with time, season and weather. To paraphrase Matisse’s famous quote, “I don’t paint things, I paint the space between things.” This is what my work is really about.