JOSH ELLIOTT

About this artist

A third-generation artist, Josh Elliott, was born in Great Falls, Montana. His grandfather dabbled in a variety of artistic pursuits, and his father, Steve Elliott, is an accomplished wildlife and landscape painter.

He studied art at the university, then married his wife, Allison. He began outdoor painting throughout Oregon and Montana. Elliott says, “Painting outdoors is a reaction to what is in front of me, where studio painting is more of a reflection of who I am in response to nature; however, without the fundamentals of painting outdoors, I would have trouble painting a convincing scene.” In the studio, he has more freedom to experiment and focus on what makes a good painting. He believes that if he has an emotional response to a scene, the resulting painting will find an audience. “It is important to me to share a connection with the viewer, where we are both celebrating the beauty around us.” Elliott cites many artistic influences and paints a variety of subjects within the landscape genre. He is motivated more by ideas than a particular location. “I look for artistic elements like shapes and patterns, value relationships, or color combinations. I want there to be a reason to start a painting; do I want to make it epic, or poetic, or maybe iconic? My hope is that it is always artistic.”

Elliott’s work resides in several museum collections, including the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia; the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis; the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City; and the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming.

Selected exhibitions include 21st Century Regionalists: Art of the New West at the Booth Western Art Museum; The Next West: Innovating Tradition at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona; American Masters at the Salmagundi Club in New York City; The West Select at the Phoenix Art Museum; Prix de West at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City; and Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis.

Among his many awards, Elliott has received the Harrison Eiteljorg Purchase Award, the Victor Higgins Award of Distinction, the Artists’ Choice Award, and the Palette Award at Quest for the West; the Edith Hamlin Award at the Maynard Dixon Country Invitational; and the 2D Award at the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. His work has been featured in the magazines American Artist, Art of the West, Southwest Art, and Western Art Collector, and in the book Painters of Grand Teton National Park.

Josh lives in Montana with his wife Allison and their two daughters.