About the Artist

Steve Kropp

Steve Kropp grew up in small towns of Utah and Colorado surrounded by the beauty of the Colorado Plateau.  This unique area has had a strong influence on his art.

Steve graduated in 1982 from the illustration program at Utah State University, and worked as a freelance artist producing illustrations for magazines and paperback book covers.  After many years of doing illustrations for clients he began  painting for himself.  After experimenting with watercolors, pastels, and woodcuts, he eventually settled on oils as his preferred medium.  

"I am always striving to develop and refine my own approach to painting. Drawing and painting sketches on location is important to me because nature helps keep me grounded. I sometimes use these field sketches to create larger versions in the studio. Even though the natural world is the source of my visual inspiration, my paintings are simplified, stylized and personalized and step away from realistic depictions, often becoming quite abstracted. I select the colors, patterns and shapes that interest me in a scene and leave a lot of things out. I let my paintings evolve and take their own direction. My studio paintings are a synthesis of memories, imagination and impressions, photographic reference and field studies. These all contribute to but do not dictate the final result."

Steve and his family live in Cache Valley Utah.