NORTH DAKOTA ART GALLERY ASSOCIATION
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Morgan Wagner

Celebrating the Essence

Artist Statement

My still life and plein air oil and watercolor paintings are born from a need to develop as an artist. I choose to paint, rather than photograph, because while a photograph can do a good job of preserving a specific image and time, it can’t select for the most important details in a subject. In addition, it doesn’t allow for the time, careful scrutiny, and intention it takes to make a painting. I’ve heard love described as: “paying careful attention to.” If this is the case, when I practice painting, I am practicing love.

My work focuses on the essence of what makes my everyday subjects beautiful. I try to create an impression of light and form, simplifying shapes and distilling the subject down to its most important parts. I have a long way to go at perfecting this technique and that’s part of the fun. My practice is something I plan to pursue throughout my entire life because I believe there will always be room to grow.

Each painting was created in a single session, usually between 2 or 3 hours long. I painted the still lifes in my apartment while listening to music or podcasts, typically in my kitchen. The landscapes were painted on-site, plein air. It’s important to me that I paint what my eyes see, so they were all painted directly from life, not from a picture.

When I see them, these paintings make me hopeful that it’s worth the effort to try again and again, that daily, sustainable, practice yields the most powerful results, and that practicing for a lifetime is the only way to know just how good I can get.
Artist Website

Touring Schedule

Long X Arts Foundation
March 6 - April 28, 2023
James Memorial Art Center
July 31 - September 1, 2023
Taube Museum of Art
October 4 - November 10, 2023
Lake Region Heritage Center
January 15 - February 16, 2024
Northwest Arts Center
March 1 - 29, 2024
Cando Art Center
April 1 - 30, 2024
MonDak Heritage Center
July 3 - July 31, 2024
Picture
PO Box 714, Williston, ND 58802 | (701) 557-9443​
Picture
NDAGA is sponsored in part with funds from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.
  • Home
  • About
    • Member Galleries
    • 2024 Annual Meeting
  • Exhibitions
    • Maria Borkowski
    • Heather Thomas Olson
    • Anita Helman & Jill Edinger
    • Micah Bloom
    • Melissa Gordon
    • Debbie Kauffman
    • Rosanne Olson
    • The Sketchbook Project
    • Eric A. Johnson
    • Sabrina Ramey
    • Marilyn Niewoehner
    • Past Exhibitions >
      • Greg Walter
      • Donovan Widmer
      • Doug Engberg
      • Erica Thune
      • Charles Lee
      • Morgan Wagner
      • Arvin K Davis Jr
      • Charles Beck
      • Matthew Anderson & Michael Conlan
      • 2020 Governor's Photo Contest
      • Jamie Azevedo
      • Lino Azevedo
      • BisMan Writers Guild
      • Susan Brekke
      • Johnathan Campbell
      • David Driesbach
      • Jim Falck
      • Carol Fielhaber
      • Lacey Holmen
      • Mark Holter
      • Hooshang Khorasani
      • Sharon Linnehan
      • Jennifer & Brian Matthews
      • Roxi Mathis
      • Mitch Melberg
      • Paul & Dakota Noot
      • Matthew Norton
      • ND State Parks
      • Katie Vasbinder
      • NOTSTOCK
      • Deana Novak >
        • Deana Novak
      • Linda Olson
      • Walter Piehl
      • Mack Schroer
      • Dawson Shafer
      • Dan Smith
      • Suite 1 Artists
      • Beau Theige
      • Erica Thune
      • Erica Thune
      • Jessica Wachter
      • Avis Veikley
      • Emily Williams-Wheeler
  • Touring Proposals
  • Resources
    • Art Talk
    • Art Connect Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Memberships