It's the time of year when the streams are starting to run clear, and you could bet that Stanton Englehart (1931 - 2009) would have been out with his fly rod, testing the will of those cagey Cutthroats and Rainbows hiding in the ripples!
Stanton was the head of the art department at Fort Lewis College and was likely the most popular professor to ever teach at Fort Lewis College. We often have FLC graduates stop in to see Englehart's paintings.
I always ask them if they are art majors. Most of the time, the answer is "no."
One young man explained, "We took his classes because he was an amazing philosopher. He cared about people, and he had a way of helping you look at the world more kindly and optimistically." I love that.
He was a keen observer of the Natural World and loved spending time outdoors, hiking, fishing, and riding his bike. His paintings, with some notable exceptions, were landscapes and depictions of the Southwest deserts and mountains. He is probably best known for his large oils on canvas. The artist donated many to the Center of Southwest Studies and the Concert Hall at Fort Lewis.
But Stanton did some of his finest work with mixed media on paper. These included landscapes, his dog series, his women series, and this one-of-a-kind piece, Mayflies.
Typical of Stanton, he captured the essence of this flying insect. The only purpose of a mayfly is to mate. This prehistoric insect lives in the water in a nymph stage after hatching, sometimes for a couple of weeks, until they open up and become a flying insect.
After they leave the water, their lifespan is usually one day, maybe two.
Their entire lives on earth have only one purpose. In this mixed-media painting, Stanton Englehart captures the moment that symbolizes completing the circle of life.
