Dean Bradshaw

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

Dean Bradshaw grew up in southern California’s Santa Monica Mountains. From an early age nature was a close friend. He spent every available moment hiking and observing the intricacies of natural light and form. By grade school age Dean was translating his experiences in nature onto paper and canvas. He won many high school art awards and a scholarship to the prestigious Art Center Institute in Los Angeles. As an adult Dean spent many years in southern France, where he painted and immersed himself in the local culture. In France he gained an appreciation for the decorative arts and period furniture.

Back in the States he had the rare opportunity to study furniture design and fabrication with world-renowned Swiss ebeniste (a French word meaning old-world master craftsman) Andre Liardet in Beverly Hills, California. Dean started his own successful furniture business in 1976. Many of his painted and carved works may be found among royalty, stars and prominent business people around the world. In 2006, Dean decided to devote his talents to painting full time. Now living in the mountains of northern Utah he finds himself surrounded by some of the most spectacular subject matter for which an artist can hope.

His use of both the brush and the palette knife renders this visual wonderland into compelling landscapes.

“It makes the work very textural and it keeps me from focusing too much on detail. For me, it becomes a much more spontaneous way of painting. When I paint thick, with a lot of color, it tends to be more on the feeling side than the technical side.”

In painting, Dean seeks to achieve abstract quality using recognizable shapes. He works plein air, relying on good memory and photos for minimal reference.

“Painting directly from nature means the world to me. It opens up new dimensions in the way I see light and color and deepens my appreciation for nature and life as a whole.”

Known for his strong textures and saturated colors, Dean makes up his own hues, often heightening them, yet remains true to nature.

“When I come across a scene I want to paint, it’s because of its strong design element and dramatic lighting. I like to do deep aspen interiors, because the range of subtle colors makes an overall unified, harmonious painting, It takes a lot of driving and hiking to find that one great scene.”