Brad Aldridge
Brad Aldridge creates pastoral landscapes which evoke an Arcadian calm. His paintings conjure 19th century Romanticism and Tonalism while employing somewhat loose 20th century brushstrokes. Aldridge states that his ultimate goal is to create objects of beauty which nourish the viewer on a spiritual level. Born in 1965 near Tokyo Japan, Aldridge lived in several locations throughout the United States as his father served in the US Army. Aldridge knew he wanted to become a professional artist from the age of four when his mother began taking an art class at a community college. Aldridge graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Brigham Young University, Utah, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arkansas. Having exhibited in over 20 solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions, Aldridge has recently created paintings and monumental landscape murals for temples on five continents for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Brigham Young University, with an emphasis in lithography, and he went to the University of Arkansas for graduate school. Collectors include the Pinnfund Corporation, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, and the Springvale Museum of Art. He lives and works in Moroni, Utah.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Art needs a reason to exist. That’s what a college professor once told me, and I think it’s true. Painting is communication when shared with others, and when one communicates, they should have a point. Intimate conversations should convey something that is worth saying. Ideally, they share a glimpse into precisely who the person really is, what they really think and feel.
When I communicate, when I paint the world around me, my best paintings are suffused with my temperament and sensibilities, my views on the big questions of existence. The world in which I find myself is often filled with hard adversity in an uncertain tangled present, to be sure. But often in nature, I am surprised by some exquisite scene, the profile of a tree against a pale blue sky, the last red light of day on the west mountains near my home, or a glowing distant horizon. These moments remind me of a hopeful something, "a far off country," “a better country.” I want my paintings to echo what nature teaches so well, that dawn follows the darkest night, and that in spite of a long hard winter, spring comes again.