“I started painting landscapes and wildlife scenes at the age of twelve. On weekends, I took lessons. Growing up in Oklahoma gave me a love for nature, fishing, hunting, and camping’ my art is rooted in these enthusiasms. After graduating from High School, I worked several jobs and in 1987, I joined the Navy. I was trained as a Navy SEAL and served four years on Team 3 in Coronado, CA. Following my Honorable Discharge, I took a six month road trip photographing and hiking Nation Historic Sites and National Parks. This trip inspired me to begin painting again. I visited the CAA Museum in Kerrville, TX, as well as many art galleries in the West. I decided then I wanted to paint for a living. Visiting the Historic sites and reading tons of American History kindled my passion for historical western themes. Through my experience tin the military and following the roads of those pioneers and trailblazers, I felt a strong connection with their hardships, challenges working the land, and determination to survive.
I sought out a good art school where I could develop the drawing and painting skills I needed to communicate my impressions. I found that at Art Center College in Pasadena, CA. This led to workshops with other painters, including Dan McCaw, Dan Pinkham, and Donald Putman. I do Plein Air work as well, which is a passion of mine. I believe it is essential in understanding the light and colors necessary in creating the mood I seek for my larger pieces. I also attend mountain man rendezvous and Civil War re-enactments to observe my subject first hand. I combine what I see there with readings of old journals and books and what I imagine it was like two centuries ago before the land was settled. My goal is to pictorially show America’s heritage and man’s relationship to the land before it was spoiled by settlement and technology. The story, though very important, is subordinate to the mood I want to portray. Without communicating mood, the essence of all true art, a painting is just another portrayal of the obvious. I hope to bring the two together to inspire art lovers and historians, alike.”
Todd Connor combines his passion for American history and love of nature to create paintings that evoke the Old West. The former Navy S.E.A.L. studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and graduated with honors from the Art Center College of Design in 1997.
As an Artist Member of the California Art Club and Oil Painters of America, his work has received national recognition. The November 2000 issue of "Southwest Art" magazine featured an article on Connor's paintings that were inspired by the Lewis and Clark expedition. Connor's sense of historical verisimilitude in his paintings has been developed through extensive reading of American history and pioneer journals and through participation in mountain man rendezvous, civil war battle reenactments, and cowboy gatherings.
The artist's studio is in Montana and he paints throughout the West.
I sought out a good art school where I could develop the drawing and painting skills I needed to communicate my impressions. I found that at Art Center College in Pasadena, CA. This led to workshops with other painters, including Dan McCaw, Dan Pinkham, and Donald Putman. I do Plein Air work as well, which is a passion of mine. I believe it is essential in understanding the light and colors necessary in creating the mood I seek for my larger pieces. I also attend mountain man rendezvous and Civil War re-enactments to observe my subject first hand. I combine what I see there with readings of old journals and books and what I imagine it was like two centuries ago before the land was settled. My goal is to pictorially show America’s heritage and man’s relationship to the land before it was spoiled by settlement and technology. The story, though very important, is subordinate to the mood I want to portray. Without communicating mood, the essence of all true art, a painting is just another portrayal of the obvious. I hope to bring the two together to inspire art lovers and historians, alike.”
Todd Connor combines his passion for American history and love of nature to create paintings that evoke the Old West. The former Navy S.E.A.L. studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and graduated with honors from the Art Center College of Design in 1997.
As an Artist Member of the California Art Club and Oil Painters of America, his work has received national recognition. The November 2000 issue of "Southwest Art" magazine featured an article on Connor's paintings that were inspired by the Lewis and Clark expedition. Connor's sense of historical verisimilitude in his paintings has been developed through extensive reading of American history and pioneer journals and through participation in mountain man rendezvous, civil war battle reenactments, and cowboy gatherings.
The artist's studio is in Montana and he paints throughout the West.