We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jordan Walker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jordan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I create paintings that celebrate the landscapes and ecology of the American West. These ancient landscapes are fascinating to me, and I feel a great sense of reverence toward them. My approach to painting the spaces of the American west is based in this foundational love for natural history – from the layers of geological strata to the weathered branches of alpine trees.

Unfortunately, many of these spaces are under threat due to the effects of climate change and human development. Whitebark pines for instance, an incredible species of high elevation tree that can live for millennia, are dying in droves due to a warming climate and human introduced pests. The loss of these trees, and other threatened species like them would be a tragedy not only for the ecosystems they support but also for our collective consciousness.

I hope that I am remembered not only for my technical proficiency as a painter, but also for reminding viewers of the wonders present in the natural spaces of our planet. Many of these environments are incredibly fragile, and In need of protection and conservation. In the case of the Whitebark, efforts are underway to ensure the survival of the species, but there is much work to be done. My paintings offer a glimpse of the grandeur in these wild places, but wilderness can only persist as long as we find a way to coexist with and foster these natural spaces.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve always been fascinated by natural history, and have felt a passion to learn more about the world around me since I was a young child. This passion combined with my love for art, science fiction, and imaginative worlds lead me to pursue a career as an illustrator. Growing up in the suburbs of Rhode Island, I didn’t get much of a chance to experience the natural world first hand, and I was eager to explore the wild spaces I had spent years learning about. Upon moving to Oregon after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2016, I was absolutely blown away by the grander and diversity of the American West. as I spent more time immersed in these wild spaces, I gradually shifted my focus from illustration toward fine art landscape painting in an effort to share my love for these environments with the world.

With painting gear and camera in hand, I hike through the wild spaces of western North America and create studies to better understand my surroundings. Intense examples of light and atmosphere, as well as a sense of the geological timescale of my favorite subjects are important elements in my work. I am continually drawn to the timeless drama of stormy skies, churning Pacific tides, steep alpine slopes, and ancient trees.

Increasingly, I’ve found inspiration in the arid steppe of the Great Basin region, where incredible rock spires emerge from blankets of sage and juniper. In the studio, I use my studies and photographic reference gathered in the wild to compose immersive paintings. I strive to communicate the power and beauty of my subjects through the use of dynamic compositions, expressive brushstrokes, and unexpected color contrasts.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Honestly, I could never have pursued any path in life aside from art. Painting is a passion and obsession for me, and always find myself drawn to the studio no matter what the day brings. there is an incredible sense of satisfaction that comes from bringing something new into the world, though sometimes the process of creation can be a struggle. Beyond that though, the most rewarding aspect of my current practice as a landscape painter is the time I get to spend out in the field, finding inspiration and instruction in the nuances of the natural world. I feel honored to be able to explore the coastline, forests, deserts, and alpine slopes of this continent on a regular basis, and to share my passion for these places with the world through my artwork.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I find that Social Media is a wonderful way to connect with other artists, collectors, and all sorts of folks who would never have come across my work otherwise. My audience across Instagram and TikTok has grown fairly organically, and I haven’t yet delved into using ads or other more in depth analytic tools. I view these platforms less as sales engines (though I have made a few sales of my work through social media), but more as a means for me to share my creative process with the world. I regularly upload photos of my finished paintings, process videos and tutorials, and snippets of my life as an artist.

I think that tutorial videos and short clips inviting viewers into my studio have gotten a lot of attention – people really love to get a glimpse of an artist’s process, not just their finished work. If you’re an artist starting to into social media, I’d recommend recording lots of videos of yourself working, which you can later splice together to to form long format tutorials or short TikTok clips. Of course, I’m fairly new to this myself, and my approach is fairly loose, so experiment a a bunch and see what works best and is most rewarding for you!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jordankwalkerart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordankwalkerart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordankwalkerart/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz4WvSonOwQFTfS5vdyfW1A
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jordankwalkerart

Image Credits
all images (C) Jordan K Walker