For more than twenty years, Walter Porter worked as a successful commercial illustrator, painting for a list of clients that included America West Airlines, Arizona Highways Magazine, AT&T, IBM, Park Hyatt Hotels, U.S. West Communications and the U.S. State Department. Then, after two decades of painting exclusively in watercolor, Walter decided to learn the art of oil painting. Working on still lifes in the controlled environment of his studio, he began to adapt to this "new" medium. In September of 2004, he picked up a paint box and brushes,and hiked into the mountains surrounding Tucson to paint landscapes. Since then, Walter has been painting primarily en plein air. To escape the intense heat of southern Arizona, Walter spends part of the summer working on larger pieces in the studio as well as doing portraits, figurative and western pieces. Walter Porter was born in 1952 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Ripon College, The Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Arizona and currently lives with his wife and three children in the Tucson Mountains just outside of Tucson, Arizona.
Awards / Exhibitions / Competition
January 2009
Juried into Telluride Plein Air Festival 2009
November 2008
The
Greenwich Workshop Small Works Exhibition
October
2008
San
Luis Obispo Plein Air Painting Festival 2008
February 2008
Paint
America Top 100 Competition / Exhibition
February
2008
Paint
America Mini Top 50 Competition / Exhibititon
February 2008
Featured
in American Art Collector Magazine #28 in “Nomadas del Arte” article
November 2007
The
Mountain Oyster Club Western Art Show
November
2007
The
Greenwich Workshop Small Works Exhibition
October
2007
Minis
at the Max – TPAPS Juried Show
October
2007
San
Luis Obispo Plein Air Painting Festival 2007
August
2007
Estes
Park Plein Air 2007
May
2007
Paint
America Top 100 / Paint the Parks
May
2007
Central
Coast National Fine Art Competition / Exhibition
March 2007
Salon International 2007
March
2007
Plein Air Tucson 2007
January
2007
Empire One Hundred Western Art Show
January
2007
Tubac Center for the Arts Members Show
November
2006
TPAPS Artist Member Show 2006
October 2006
Finalist in the 2006 Paint America Top50 Mini Competition
October 2006
Juried into San Luis Obispo Plein Air Painting Festival
August 2006
Juried into Estes Park Plein Air 2006 – Painting the Parks
July 2006
Invited to paint in Nomadas Del Arte plein air competition
June
2006
Awarded membership in Oil Painters of America
March 2006
Plein
Air Tucson 2006, Northern Trust Bank Gallery
Jan. 2006
Awarded
Artist Membership in Tucson Plein Air Painters Society
Nov. 2005
Tubac
plein air painting (11-12-05) chosen by Arizona State Parks for the 2006
Arizona Archaeology & Heritage Awareness Month Poster
July 1994
Finalist
in Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition
Gallery Representation
Lovett’s
Gallery
6528
East 51st Street
Tulsa,
OK 74145
