Reflections in Paint
An Exhibition of Paintings by John Phillips, Loren Eakins, and George Strickland
📅 Key Dates & Reception
🖼️ Exhibition Dates:
–
🥂 Opening Reception:
The opening reception is free and open to the public, with a cash bar serving beer and wine, plus hors d’oeuvres provided by The Art Center Guild.
🎨 About the Exhibition
Reflections in Paint brings together John Phillips, Loren Eakins, and George Strickland, three artists united by a shared fascination with the landscape and the experience of painting directly from nature. Their work reflects a sustained engagement with place, atmosphere, light, and the constantly changing character of the natural world.
Phillips and Eakins frequently paint the Colorado landscape together, developing a friendship grounded in their mutual enthusiasm for landscape as a subject. The pairing of their work reveals both the experiences they share and the distinct ways each artist interprets the same environment. Strickland’s longstanding dedication to plein-air painting broadens this conversation, adding another perspective shaped by years of observing and responding to the outdoors.
👨🎨 About the Artists
John Phillips
John David Phillips was born in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1955. His earliest memories are of the open vistas and changing skies of the American Southwest. He began painting at the age of eight, inspired to capture his impressions of natural beauty wherever he lived—including the Southwest, California, Australia, Texas, and Asia.
Phillips now lives in western Colorado at the foot of the Colorado National Monument, where he paints both in the studio and en plein air. He previously presented a solo exhibition at The Art Center in 2024.
Loren Eakins
Professionally trained as both an artist and a biologist, Loren Eakins brings an adventurer’s curiosity and a scientist’s attention to his experience of the natural world. He earned a BFA in Illustration from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, where his training in several artistic styles led to a deep love of landscape and plein-air painting.
Seeking to understand the world beyond its visual qualities, Eakins later trained as a biologist. His fieldwork has taken him from fishing boats in the Bering Sea and the high deserts of Colorado to a research station in the jungles of South America—always with his paints close at hand. Through his knowledge of nature’s dynamic systems, Eakins communicates a profound appreciation for the beauty around us. He previously presented a solo exhibition at The Art Center in 2019.
George Strickland
George Strickland began his career in commercial art, working first in a newspaper art department and later for advertising agencies. He went on to work as a freelance illustrator and co-owner of a design firm.
After several years in the commercial field, workshops with Howard Terpning, Ken Riley, and other members of the Cowboy Artists of America inspired Strickland to pursue fine art. Later experiences painting with William Reese and Jim Wilcox deepened his interest in outdoor landscapes and became the catalyst for his enduring love of plein-air painting—working directly from life to capture the immediate character of a place.
