Landscape artist Dan Knepper grew up in northern Ohio in a yard that ended at the “Hundred Acre Wood.” He spent his childhood exploring vernal pools and giant trees, discovering puffballs, chipmunk dens and the places where the minnows gathered in the creek. “I traveled through the woods to swim in isolated sandstone quarries, with crystal water of unreachable depth and moss covered cliff walls. Those days started me down the path of my favorite subject matter,” he says.
Montana, Heart and Soul, oil, 30 x 40"
The natural beauty of North America, and the animals that dwell within it, are brought to life in Knepper’s artwork. “Trips to Glacier [National Park] and western Montana, as well as the Tetons, Yellowstone and Colorado made a transcendent change in my life and work,” says the artist. “The experience helped define my work in general. This is what I want to paint. These last wild places and the wildlife that inhabits them.”
Stand Where I Stood, oil, 45 x 30"
Stand Where I Stood captures the flowing waters of McDonald Creek in Montana. “I had my feet cooling in the water and stood up and turned around,” Knepper explains. “When I turned back, a beaver was swimming right where my feet had been. I think a river carries a story the mountain is telling to the sea.”
The Forest King, oil, 30 x 45"
Winter Warmth, oil, 30 x 40"
A stately elk, gently illuminated by rays of sunlight peeking through the tree cover, is the star of the show in The Forest King. “I miss the elk bugling and the mist and slanted early morning light of the forests. We have white tails in Ohio, but no elk, and when you first see one in person their size is impressive. I love Estes Park, Colorado, overrun with elk,” says Knepper.
He is represented by galleries coast to coast, and his work hangs in collections across the country. Dive into more of Knepper’s outdoor adventures and nature art at www.danknepperart.com. —
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