Clive R. Tyler was raised in an encouraging artistic atmosphere. He studied Fine Art and Design at Kent State University (Ohio) with a double major and was awarded a Bachelors of Fine Art Degree. Twenty years later after a successful design career, he is now known as one of the best Pastelists on a national level.

Living in Taos, New Mexico, he is serious about painting with integrity and seeking the truth in his subject matter. His goals set, he has in just a few years moved quickly into the art scene, having received invitations at national museums and acceptance with both galleries and collectors. His classical oil painting style is unique for pastel painting. With strong composition and attention to lighting, each painting has its own special emotional connection with the viewer.

Artist Statement:

As a Plein Air and Studio artist, I paint in natural surroundings and out in the open; defined as the word Plein air. I have always been inspired by nature and the quiet in the wilderness. I have been painting in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado for 10 years now and love the Winter Park, Co area too. I travel to Montana and Oregon to paint as well. Rivers, snow scenes, tall aspens, moose and elk are all on the list of work that I enjoy painting. Live oaks from the Southeast are on my new list of great trees to paint.

I wish to share the outdoor experience that I have had as an artist or my interpretation of an impressionist point of view. As an artist, I am painting the experience, not a reproduction of the view. I want to have the viewer want to step into the painting, look around the corner, feel like they are looking up at the aspens, feel the temperature of the day, sense a feeling of the time, hear the sounds of leaves and thunder in the distant storm. Through color harmony, pastel pigment, texture, and a strong concept with good design and composition, I convey this to the viewer and evoke some memories or desires. When viewers say, "I know where that is" " I feel like I want to walk in there and take a hike in the aspens" or " I wish I was there” that is a successful painting.

I paint in Soft Pastel on a sanded paper from Germany. The pastels I use are a French brand called Sennelier. It's a dry form of pigment/paint. This brand was created for Degas and Monet. Some of the colors are the same. Pastel is made of pure pigment or ore and stone so the colors glow with a luminous feeling. I use to be an oil painter so I'm very loose in placing color, enjoy under painting, and using edges and emotional strokes in my painting. Up close the paintings take on an abstract feeling but from 10 feet away it looks like your looking through a window to the world outside. All my paintings are professionally framed with a type of museum glass that has minimum refection.

My work will be a collection of studio work taken from my experiences in nature of landscapes and wildlife in the four different seasons. I add wildlife to some of my paintings if I have had the experience or seen a similar view. Many times I'm painting outdoors and a hundred elk have surrounded me and walk around me grazing and not even noticing me. It's a great feeling to be accepted by nature and not to be an intruder. I have had a mother moose and calf walk by my easel, I have stood and watch a heard of bison run through tall grass with the Tetons in the background as if I was back in time or in a movie. When you are standing outside in one spot painting for hours, something will walk or fly by. I had an eagle sit and watch me paint once in Alaska and I have watched a hawk build a nest in the Colorado aspens. So I wish the viewer to understand that the paintings that I produce are authentic experiences that they can take home and enjoy and cherish nature as if they where there too.

"Every place, every corner, every view -- It's all just inspiration, timing and light. On one day, in the evening or in the early morning, or looking from the top of a mountain something marvelous happens -- the conditions are ideal and the world is enhanced. This only happens once and it's never quite the same again. This is what I look for: "I have to be there and then I paint."

Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society

2016 Plein Air Painters of New Mexico

2015 Best of Show in Pastel at the American Impressionist Society National Show

2015 Best Painting Quick Draw at the Buffalo Bill Art Museum Show

2015 Faculty for the National Plein Air Convention, Monterey, CA

2015 Brinton Museum, Invitational Miniature Show, Sheridan, WY

2015 Invitational Heart of the West, Masters Art Show, Coeur d’Alene Resort, ID

2014 Booth Museum, Cartersville, GA. Acquisition and Teaching

2014 Coors Foundation purchase Aspen 3 series. Corporate Collection, Denver, CO

2013 American Impressionist National Show, Award of Excellence

2013 Artist Choice Award, Eastland, MD, Waterfowl Art Show

2013 Bill Museum, Cody, WY

2012 Grand Prize Winner “Paint America Top 100” Purchase Award, Coutts Museum

2012 Best of Show, South Eastern Wildlife Expo, Charleston, SC

2012 People’s Choice Award at the Buffalo Bill Art Show, Quick-Draw & Sale, Buffalo Bill Museum, Cody, WY

2011 Best of Show & First Place, Windows of the Divine, Evergreen Fine Art Gallery, Evergreen, CO

Publications and Articles

Plein Air Magazine, Western Art and Architecture, Pastel Journal and Southwest Art