Kent Burkhardsmeier
Stevensville, MT
I focus on outdoor photographic art featuring nature's beauty and the emotions it invokes within me.
Message
A modest and humble upbringing, surrounded by vast and open landscape — I grew up in North Dakota, with beauty emanating from the commonplace. Here, I developed an appreciation for the simpler aspects of life, explored the outdoors, began photographing, and discovered a passion for travel. College and a successful business career provided opportunities to live in distant lands (Colorado, Florida, Texas, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Italy, and the UK) — always appreciating and exploring.
Traveling offers me an opportunity to create new images to amplify my voice. Each image reveals a paused reverence; in harmony with the essence of my childhood and the mindfulness of the place.
I live in Stevensville and am a member of Artists Along the Bitterroot.
Statement
As a photographic artist, I’m inspired by outdoor nature (al fresco) where I find peace and comfort. I’m moved by the openness and serenity found within nature. The outdoors stirs emotions within that act as motivation for my art.
My images embrace time and place with room to meander, quiet to relax the mind, and space to ponder. They are an invitation to enter the realm within, to soothe the soul, and to experience solace.
I create surreal, transitional art—realism infused with a touch of abstraction or ambiguity—using photographic tools and artistic techniques. My artwork exhibits a painterly style suggestive of landscape watercolor paintings; a layered, relaxed palette, subtle details, and enriched through textured fine art medium. My outdoor photographs embody atmospheric effects with hints of sfumato treatment.