Jay Moore, b. 1964, United States

Jay Moore grew up in Evergreen, Colorado, spending nearly every waking moment outdoors: fishing, camping, swimming, and absorbing the subtleties of nature that every good sportsman and artists needs. “My bond with nature formed early and became deeply rooted,” he says. When he began painting he did only plein air paintings for five years and honed his observational skills. “Spending so much time outdoors,” he says, “you get in tune with nature’s rhythms. What the temperature is, when rain is imminent, what month it is by the water level in a stream. Once you understand it on that level then you can interpret it a lot better.”

Moore's father, a military-man-turned-banker and his mother, an amateur artist, he was encouraged from a young age to follow in his father’s footsteps. However, exposure to an early art education and his natural talent intervened. After graduating at the top of his class, from art school, Moore worked in a graphic design firm in Denver for two years before working on his own as an illustrator. He appreciates that the pressures of illustration pushed him to a level of professionalism that he carries with him today.

“If every artist has a subject that is their ‘sweet spot’,” Jay says, “something that they love to paint and that they become known for, mine would be water. I just love painting and trying to achieve the illusion of water. I am challenged by capturing the depth, the current, the reflections, ripples, whatever... Whether it be streams, rivers, lakes, oceans, waterfalls, I love it all. As a fly fisherman, and I think that study of rivers from a fishing stand point complements my artistic interest in the subject. I am always striving to achieve a higher level of expertise in capturing the feeling of water. Like Norman McClean said in his book, A River Runs Through It, ‘I am haunted by water….’” Jay has said, “To create a painting worthy of my collectors, I need to experience the location--breathe the air and crunch the leaves underfoot.” That experience and that goal are reflected in the comments of James Nottage, Vice President and Chief Curatorial Officer
of the Eiteljorg Museum. “Landscape paintings by Jay Moore are beautiful works that convey the artist’s strong sense of place. They are realist creations that give you impressions of seasons and expressions of both sky and earth. They are a treat for the imagination that can make you think you have been there or maybe want to go there.