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Editor's note:KSL.com does a weekly feature on artists in the community. If you have a painter, sculptor, musician or creative genius in mind, feel free to email your submission to atreasure@ksl.com. Please include a contact email for the artist, if available.SALT LAKE CITY — A violist with the Utah Symphony for 50 years now, Christopher McKellar came back to visual art with a desire to create something permanent.
Born in Salt Lake City and raised in Orem, McKellar started drawing and watercolor painting in grade school. But when he took up the viola, he put the pencils and paints away and focused on music, training with former principal violist of the Utah Symphony, Sally Peck. He continued his studies through college, earning a bachelor’s degree in music and viola performance.
But as he became more established in his music career, he craved a different kind of creativity in addition to music.
“Now, collaboration with composers and colleagues is a wonderful thing, but sometimes having one’s own ideas and bringing them into existence is also wonderful,” McKellar said. “It seemed time, so I took up brushes and pens and pencils again. I also find it nice that when you make a mark on the paper, it's still there next week, next month, next year. You play a note, and as it fades away, it's gone.”
He turned to the red rock landscapes of Utah as subjects, attempting to capture some part of the beauty there and spend more time in it. He often draws with ink on the spot and will sometimes add color later with colored pencils. McKellar extensively uses watercolors as well, using it to achieve intense, textured color.
“Sometimes I have to just stop the car and look for a while, particularly if I happen to be in a spot during a magical 10 minutes or so when the light is just perfectly amazing,” McKellar said. “I love the effect color has. I think color adds the emotion to many scenes and paintings. Put amazing color into an incredible vista and I’m ‘influenced.’”
McKellar paints from a small studio in his home, often working from a photograph and a pencil or ink drawing made on-site with notes about the light or features he wants to emphasize or exaggerate. From there, he’ll fill in the colors, then head back home to his studio to paint a small watercolor study before working on the real thing. This process, he said, allows him to turn over the image in his mind plenty before setting it down to paper or board.
Now, his art has been shown across Utah and he said he’s enjoyed hearing what people have to say about the work when it’s hanging on a gallery wall. But one cherished experience came out of a conversation in red rock country with a stranger.
“(One) time I had met someone while staying in Capitol Reef National Park. The person wanted to see some of my work, so I hauled out my laptop and showed them,” McKellar said. “The person stared, and quietly said, ‘wow.’”
- Contact: Christopher@ChristopherMcKellar.com
- See:http://www.christophermckellar.com
- Upcoming: July 15, see his piece in the Utah Watercolor Society Small Works show at Alpine Gallery
