47 East 200 North St. George, UT 84770 (435) 627-4525 museum@sgcity.org Mon - Sat: 10am - 5pm 3rd Thursday 10am - 9pm Return to Current Exhibits Return to Past Exhibits Return to Future Exhibits Landscape Images: From Actuality to Individuality by Todd Orchard and Tony Cox Show available: July 16, 2005 through September 10, 2005 ARTISTS' STATEMENT The eye of an artist sees reality the same way any other eye does, gathering light and passing along information to the brain. However, artists filter this information while they work, sorting patterns, adding contrast, erasing unneeded information, as well as many other tasks. This is the job of the artist: to translate reality into their individual vision. Just as all people have different personalities, each artist has a peculiar vision: a unique way they see the world around them. Todd and Tony shared a studio for years, looking over each other's shoulders and comparing solutions to painting problems. "We noticed that our paintings were always distinctly ours, that both of us came to similar results while painting the landscape, but by different means that reflected our personalities." As you enjoy these paintings we hope you would take into account the contrast between similarity and individuality. ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES TODD ORCHARD was born in Chicago Illinois, 1971. His parents moved west, eventually settling in Bountiful, Utah. After high school Todd attended college at BYU, Idaho (then Rick's College), then transferred to Utah State University in Logan where he earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) in 1995. Todd and his wife Lara moved to Salt Lake City where Todd worked as an intern for the Utah Arts Council, photographing the vast state collection of art. In 1997 Todd applied to Brigham Young University's Master of Fine Arts program; his acceptance letter came the day his first child was born. In 1998, Todd was with a group of students painting in Europe when his wife gave birth to their second child. As a result he was not popular among the females traveling in his company. Todd was teaching as a graduate student when he received his MFA degree from BYU in 2000. Their small family welcomed another member that October. Todd continued to teach classes at BYU, and started to teach for Utah Valley State College. Amid teaching, Todd worked in the studio, painting for commissions and upcoming shows, and completed many commissioned murals. In 2002 Todd and his family bought a home in American Fork, Utah, and organized a new studio in the garage (this one has air and heat!). In July of 2004 another small member joined the family. With 2 large shows and many mural projects, 2005 looks to be a good year. ANTONY COX was born in 1975, and raised in a small town just north of Ogden, Utah. His love of the Utah landscape developed at an early age. "I love the vastness of the Utah landscape," he says. "It has so many faces. From the hills, mountains, and farmlands of the North to the beautiful subtleties of the southern desert, I love it all." As far as choosing scenes to paint Antony says "There are many obviously beautiful scenes to paint here. But the ones that most excite me and which I most often paint are more subtly beautiful, those that often require a closer look. They are the scenes passed by everyday, often on the way to the picturesque." Antony received his BA degree in visual arts in 2000 from Brigham Young University. In 2004 he returned to BYU in pursuit of an MFA degree in painting and drawing. He has shown his work in several shows including the Springville Art Museum's spiritual and religious show, and their annual Spring Salon in which he has received an award of merit and a purchase