Born in1968, and residing in beautiful Spirit Lake, Idaho with his wife and children, Joe Kronenberg is a
native of the Pacific Northwest. From a young age he has had a love of art. “Growing up I was
constantly drawing. I took all the art classes I could fit in through my high school years. Upon graduating
I started my first year in a commercial art program. I figured out soon that commercial art was not my
path, so I left before completing my first year landing in the sales industry, which is where I worked for
the next twenty years. In 2004 I made a decision that an artist was what I was meant to be so I took a
job that allowed me to work from my home with some time on the road in my territory of Eastern
Washington, Idaho and Western Montana. This allowed me more control over my time to paint when I
was home with the added benefit of traveling around some of the most beautiful areas in the country
while servicing my accounts. I took my camera with me every trip and many times would stop to
photograph deer, elk, moose, buffalo, big horn sheep and some amazing scenery for paintings when I
got home. That same year I applied for and was accepted for an exhibitor’s booth in my first western
and wildlife art show. It was an exciting time. I would take whatever I was working on with me when I
traveled and work on it in my hotel room at night. When I was home I would work my job during the day
and then head to the studio to paint until the late hours of the night. Sometimes I would sneak out of
bed and back down to my studio to paint.”
Joe’s dedication has paid off since making that decision in 2004. In May of 2008 he was able to leave
his sales job to paint full time. He has won numerous awards including the CM Russell auction’s Ralph
“Tuffy” Berg award for the most promising up and coming artist for 2009, along with best of show and
people’s choice awards at other events. He has paintings in collections throughout the country and has
been represented by galleries in Jackson, WY, Coeur d’Alene, ID Sun Valley, ID and Whitefish, MT.
Joe is self taught in pastels and oil, focusing his subject matter to wildlife and western art. “I tell people I
am not so much self taught as I am self educated. I was born with the ability to draw, but as for the rest
of it, color theory, values, edges, texture, composition, temperature and so on I had to acquire
additional knowledge. Much of that knowledge came from studying art and artists of the past. I love the
old Dutch artists, the Flemish and Venetian styles and have studied their techniques. I am also a huge
fan of the Hudson River School artists and their use of Luminism and Tonalism techniques. This era of
artists preceded French Impressionism and is truly an American style of painting. Though my paintings
would not be directly categorized in any of these styles, I have taken much from them to develop my
own style, from the color palette I use to the surface I paint on to the process and steps I use to
complete a painting. I enjoy learning and always get excited when I see great art. Not only about the art
but the approach the artist took to create it.”
“I feel tremendously blessed to be able to make a living doing what I am passionate about. I look
forward now to passing on some of my knowledge to my children with the hope that they may one day
share and enjoy the same passion.”
native of the Pacific Northwest. From a young age he has had a love of art. “Growing up I was
constantly drawing. I took all the art classes I could fit in through my high school years. Upon graduating
I started my first year in a commercial art program. I figured out soon that commercial art was not my
path, so I left before completing my first year landing in the sales industry, which is where I worked for
the next twenty years. In 2004 I made a decision that an artist was what I was meant to be so I took a
job that allowed me to work from my home with some time on the road in my territory of Eastern
Washington, Idaho and Western Montana. This allowed me more control over my time to paint when I
was home with the added benefit of traveling around some of the most beautiful areas in the country
while servicing my accounts. I took my camera with me every trip and many times would stop to
photograph deer, elk, moose, buffalo, big horn sheep and some amazing scenery for paintings when I
got home. That same year I applied for and was accepted for an exhibitor’s booth in my first western
and wildlife art show. It was an exciting time. I would take whatever I was working on with me when I
traveled and work on it in my hotel room at night. When I was home I would work my job during the day
and then head to the studio to paint until the late hours of the night. Sometimes I would sneak out of
bed and back down to my studio to paint.”
Joe’s dedication has paid off since making that decision in 2004. In May of 2008 he was able to leave
his sales job to paint full time. He has won numerous awards including the CM Russell auction’s Ralph
“Tuffy” Berg award for the most promising up and coming artist for 2009, along with best of show and
people’s choice awards at other events. He has paintings in collections throughout the country and has
been represented by galleries in Jackson, WY, Coeur d’Alene, ID Sun Valley, ID and Whitefish, MT.
Joe is self taught in pastels and oil, focusing his subject matter to wildlife and western art. “I tell people I
am not so much self taught as I am self educated. I was born with the ability to draw, but as for the rest
of it, color theory, values, edges, texture, composition, temperature and so on I had to acquire
additional knowledge. Much of that knowledge came from studying art and artists of the past. I love the
old Dutch artists, the Flemish and Venetian styles and have studied their techniques. I am also a huge
fan of the Hudson River School artists and their use of Luminism and Tonalism techniques. This era of
artists preceded French Impressionism and is truly an American style of painting. Though my paintings
would not be directly categorized in any of these styles, I have taken much from them to develop my
own style, from the color palette I use to the surface I paint on to the process and steps I use to
complete a painting. I enjoy learning and always get excited when I see great art. Not only about the art
but the approach the artist took to create it.”
“I feel tremendously blessed to be able to make a living doing what I am passionate about. I look
forward now to passing on some of my knowledge to my children with the hope that they may one day
share and enjoy the same passion.”
| About The Artist |
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