Phillip Payne

With anyones life its hard to sum it up in a few quick paragraphs but here are the main points. I completed my first piece when I was 14, a little bit of a late start for people in my family. Of course I had spent my whole life playing with clay and studying art with my Dad. He was the founder of Mountain Trails Gallery and I was fortunate enough to be around some amazing art and artists as a kid, foremost of course being my Dad himself. 

But with a family filled with such amazing artists I at first didn't think there was much room for me. My Father, brother, and even my nephew made such amazing work! Dad had me when he was 50 years old and so naturally my family had been at this for a long time. But at about the age of 18 I started to get ideas that would be different than what my family had done. Pieces that I could see in my mind that I hadn't seen anywhere else. 

I grew up hearing people say that everything had already been done and that we just did our versions of it. I couldn't accept that. So I try to look at what has been done so that I can avoid repeating the same experiments, or artistic creations, and move forward. Of course there is no way that I can check all artists or artwork ever created. But I find that by picking specific moments in history that I have read about the vision that comes to mind is a little bit more unique. Reading historical books isn't my only inspiration but it is probably my favorite. 

I love western history and I can't wait to see what I can come up with for those stories. I'm also moving on to the great composers and history from the early 1900s. I really have found it to be true that if we put our hearts into what we create it is ok that not all people love it. It is enough that you find a few kindred spirits to share the joy of those creations with. I hope you enjoy my work and I look forward to meeting in person.

Phillip Payne