Visiting Artist: Matt Chatterley

Matt lives in Orem, Utah. He grew up in Kanab, Utah, Orem and Austin, Texas, and then attended BYU, where he graduated with a BA in art and design and an MFA in painting and drawing. After completing graduate studies, he worked as a graphic artist for the Arizona Republic, in Phoenix, and then as art director at the Des Moines Register in Iowa. 

He is married to Ruth Welsh, also from Orem and they have six children. Matt exhibits work in the Midwest and Utah. He is a member of the Midway Art Association and the Spring City Arts Association

ARTIST STATEMENT
I view all of my paintings and drawings, regardless of subject matter, as portraits. It might be a portrait of a mesa or butte, or a grove of trees, or a person, or a vase of flowers. Each has value, color and form, character and feelings to explore, know, and interpret.

Having said that, the great majority of my paintings are landscapes, and I think it is because I respond strongly to the places we inhabit and experience. Place is important. I’m not just painting a road or a tree or a farm. I’m painting a place where someone walked, a child played, parents raised a family, where the challenges of life were struggled with, and sometimes worked out and understood. I want my work to convey those feelings, though they may not be a specific representation of them.

I was born in southern Utah, grew up in Orem, lived in the Southwest for a few years and the Midwest for almost two decades. I’ve traveled all over the United States and to the Middle East. And now I live back in Utah. I paint the landscapes I have been part of and that are part of me. I haven’t lived in southern Utah for a long time, but I still feel the colored sands of the canyon country are part of me because of the years of my childhood spent there.