Collection: Summer Collection

Denis Byrd is a painter and educator with a passion for history and the outdoors. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Denis now resides in North Carolina. He earned a BA in Studio Art from the University of Georgia in 2003,  a MAED in Arts Education from Georgia State University in 2014 and is currently pursuing an MFA in Painting from SCAD.. He is a member of the Salmagundi Club in New York, the Oil Painters of America, and the American Impressionist Society,

As a passionate historian and outdoorsman, Denis chose to pursue landscape painting as his primary subject  after a trip to New Zealand in 2006. Inspired by the overwhelming power of nature, he desired to capture that on canvas. Working in a style that reflects the influence of both academic art and impressionism, Denis is most influenced by the work of John Singer Sargent, Edgar Payne, and NC Wyeth. Much of Denis’ work begins en plein air and this is where he feels most at home, painting outdoors and immersed in nature. As part of his regular practice he immerses himself not only in the landscape but the history of the landscape he is painting. Who lived here? What stories did they tell? What marks did they leave on the landscape? This gives a greater understanding of where he is painting as well as a deeper connection to the landscape itself. 

Denis has exhibited his work in numerous shows throughout the Southeastern United States as well as the historic Salmagundi Club in New York. He is a member of the Oil Painters of America and the host of The Renaissance podcast on iTunes where he further merged his love of history and art.