The Estate of Wayne Waldron

Wayne Waldron (FRSA, MAA, SPS) is an internationally recognized self-taught artist whose larger work has been honored with over 500 awards, juried by many of America’s leading museum and art institution directors. Most recently, he received the Best of Show award at the Oil Painters of America's 2006 Eastern Regional Exhibit.

Since 1992, he has become equally proficient and successful with work in small and miniature format. In 2004, he received the Judge’s Award of Excellence at the “Third Exhibition of the World Federation of Miniaturists” held at the Smithsonian's International Gallery in Washington, D.C. – an event held every four years in a different country. His painting was selected from over a thousand works from around the world, and he was one of only three award-winning painters from North America.

He is an elected Fellow of Great Britain’s prestigious Royal Society of Arts – a distinction held by few American artists and received in recognition of nationally earned critical respect and exceptional achievements in the professional fine art field.

At one point early on, Waldron had thought of becoming an archeologist, but once he began painting in oil at age 13, he recognized his life’s path would be that of an artist, which he has pursued full-time for over 25 years. During that time, he successfully undertook the challenge of watercolor and earned national and international honors. Since 2000, he has primarily worked in oil, acrylic and pencil – receiving the same level of recognition.

He has demonstrated an ability to paint a variety of subject matter: landscape, still life, floral, birds, and wildlife. “A prize find,” was the way his full range and body of work was described in a Chicago Tribune article.

He is known for his atmospheric woodland landscapes, often centering on country paths done in a Tonalist manner with marked Impressionistic influence. Of his painting, “Autumn in Yellowwood,” art critic, Norma MacLeod wrote: “ . . . it is a validation of the effect of light commanding atmosphere. The painting speaks its own language and initiates its own tempo as Wagoner dares us: “Stand still. The forest knows where you are. You must let it find you.”

In addition to George Inness, Waldron paintings have also been compared to work of Frederik Grue. They highlight natural drama with his treatment of light and shadow, simultaneously revealing a profound depth of feeling. In the words of the venerable art critic, Lydia Finkelstein, “Waldron’s small landscapes echo the moods of the American tonalist movement of the late 19th and early 20th century, which idealized nature into a symphony of chromatic primary and complementary colors.”

Often, artists spend a lifetime in the quest for artistic identity. Waldron has emerged from America’s immense tapestry of influences with a distinctive identity all his own.

Roland Wayne Waldron was born in the south-central Indiana village of Oolitic, near the Historic Brown County Art Colony – one of six formed in the United States a century ago. He lives and maintains a studio and gallery there today, and is inspired daily from the lush hills, blue haze and mysterious aura of the place.

Mr. Waldron has been an artist member of the Brown County Art Guild since 1978.