Park City Fine Art preps the canvas for watercolor painter

Visual art lovers and casual fans will get the chance to see Stephen Boren in action this Saturday.

The Utah-based fine art watercolorist will be on hand to paint live from 3-5 p.m. when his new exhibit opens at Park City Fine Art, 558 Main St.

This will be the first time Boren will do real-time demonstrations at the gallery, and he’s looking forward to it.

“I can paint and talk with people at the same time, and I actually paint better when I’m distracted,” he said with a laugh. “When I normally paint, I have a Netflix show streaming in the background. It’s kind of my process. I don’t totally focus on my painting, and it works for me.”

Painting live for people fits into one of Boren’s idiosyncrasies as well as the action in his works that often depict skiers and snowboarders in fresh powder, workhorses and cowboys, to name a few.

“As far as movement goes, and my wife can attest, I can’t sit still,” he said with another laugh. “I have to move all the time. So I try to capture that in a painting. There are some paintings that it works so well with.”

The powder pieces speak to Boren’s soul.

“I’ve had some great powder turns in my life, and just thinking about them makes me smile,” he said.

The artist began adding some western themes such as cowboys and horses in his work over the past couple of years.

“I have met some true cowboys who know how to work hard from 4 a.m. to dark, and I have so much respect for them,” he said. “I’ve really gained an appreciation of how tough cowboys are.”

The western themes, according to Boren, were inspired by his father, Nelson Boren, a retired western painter who also influenced his love of watercolors.

“I’ve tried oil, I’ve tried acrylic and I used to sketch a ton of things, but I would say my dad was the main influence of my interest in watercolors,” he said. “Right after high school I spent six months working for him. I did a lot of prep work for his art and saw what he could do. Then, after I got married, my wife Rosie encouraged me to do art on my own.”

Although Boren has made a name for himself as a watercolor artist, he still leans on his father’s expertise.

“I still call him daily because he did it for so long,” he said.

While some people may believe watercolor is an “unforgiving” medium, Boren believes differently.

“My dad went into it with no fear, and I take that same approach,” he said. ” I paint on very thick and heavy watercolor paper, so when I mess up, there’s always a way to fix it. I just kind of adapt and roll with the punches.”

Boren knows when a piece is finished when he’s “sick of looking at it.”

“I have five or six pieces hanging up in my studio that are ‘complete,’ but I won’t put a protective coat on them until I’m completely satisfied,” he said. “I come from the construction industry and will put blue painters tape on parts of my paintings that need to be fixed. I will let those things sit for a day or two before I decide to tackle them.”

Boren has created six new works to add to his collection that is currently showing at Park City Fine Art, and the new pieces some of his favorite pieces, thanks, in part, to gallery owner Colby J. Larsen.

“I painted a couple of them previously and hung them in the studio, and Colby approached me and said he wanted to do a show over Memorial Day weekend,” Boren said. “He told me to produce as much patriotic stuff as I could, and I was able to incorporate patriotic themes into those two pieces. One of them is a cowboy walking through dust, and there’s an American flag behind him. I just love that piece.”

Boren has known Larsen for about 12 years. 

“I met Colby through my dad, and I need to say Colby and his staff at Park City Fine Art are the greatest,” Boren said. “Colby’s been in the game for a while, and he knows what he’s doing. I have nothing but respect for that man, his family and the gallery family.”

Boren is also grateful for the opportunity to show his work in Park City and do the live demonstration on Saturday.

“I love Park City. I’ve been to different art towns all over the United States, and Park City is pretty unique,” he said. “It’s up there with Scottsdale, Arizona, and Jackson, Wyoming.”