Jason Stella was born in New Jersey and raised in New York State in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. He spent most of his youth drawing with pen and ink or charcoal, not venturing out from grayscale. Art was placed on a simmer for many years while he attended college and worked to support a family, but has now allowed it to become the main passion in his life. He spends his time now with his wife in Southwest Missouri and has chosen to step out from grayscale and create works in color. As an oil painter, the experience of living near the Appalachians as a child has fueled his desire to see the West, which has become the focus of his art. Whether a peaceful mountain landscape or resident wildlife, the West has become his unrelenting goal to portray as an artist.
Statement
“I have always been interested in art, especially as a child. My mediums of choice at that time were pencil, charcoal, or pen & ink. As an adult, painting and the use of color have become my focus. The bulk of my artwork is landscape & wildlife, in particular Western art. I also have the privilege of working in the Cardiac & Thoracic surgery department at the local hospital, and from time to time I am able to capture a unique composition of the “usual goings-on” of the operating room, which I occasionally also represent in oils. I am primarily self-taught, and I am an ongoing student of observation — of both classical and contemporary masters as well as the natural world itself.” – Jason Stella