Meet the Artist: an artist statement by Phillip Hoyle

[I am including this statement for your information. It was written for publicity at the Colorado Mountain Art Gallery in Georgetown, Colorado, a co-op gallery I have recently joined and a place where many of my petroglyph paintings are on display. I am adding to it a photo taken in Evergreen, Colorado, just a few miles away. The gallery is related to an arts organization located in Evergreen. Check out the website of CMAG where you can learn more there about the gallery and the larger organization.] 


Phillip Hoyle lives in Denver where he works as an artist and writer. His formal education emphasized music and religion, and his work has included directing choirs, stage productions and children’s arts events. He began making collages over thirty years ago. He still does collage and for several years has been working with acrylic paints on paper.

In the mid 1970s the artist studied Ute petroglyphs in the Gunnison River drainage of western Colorado. The designs in his “Ute Petroglyph Series” are from those sites. Many are reproduced the same size as the originals using acrylic washes and a resist medium. In the past ten years he has incorporated several other petroglyph traditions into his paintings.

Phillip studied painting with several artists through the Oklahoma Art Workshops, Tulsa, OK, and has shown his works in art shows in Tulsa, Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, and now Georgetown.

[I am standing next to a very life-like sculpture in Evergreen fantasizing that I'm having tea with some Cardinal. He looks so kind! The sculpture is titled Morning Spirits. It stands in front of Java Groove and was featured in Sculpture Walk 2004. The artist works in Niagara Falls, New York.]






[Here is another piece explaining the petroglyphs in a little more detail.] 

Forty years ago I saw a group of Ute petroglyphs in western Colorado, designs carved on boulders, depicting animals, plants, and abstract designs. I was fascinated and began studying them, drawing them, and reading about petroglyphs in other places. I began doing artwork when I wanted to hang a crayon rubbing I had made of one of the designs, for without the Colorado sun overhead or a sandstone cliff background, it looked awful. So I took up collage to present that petroglyph and many more. About ten years ago I finally figured out how to paint these designs and am still doing so using acrylic washes and sometimes mixed media on watercolor paper.

Denver 2014

[For an even more complete statement, refer to my post on October 28, 2013 titled "Painting Petroglyphs."]