Ambassador of the Week: Alan Shuptrine

Meet Alan Shuptrine, this week’s top American Watercolor Weekly Ambassador!

“Cadence” (watercolor, 20 x 24 in.) by Alan Shuptrine

A painter known for his Southern and Appalachian Mountains genre, Alan Shuptrine has extended his reputation from a renowned framemaker and water gilder to a nationally acclaimed watercolorist. Born the son of recognized painter, Hubert Shuptrine (1936-2006), Alan has continued the legacy of realism that both Andrew Wyeth and his father Hubert established.

A resident of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, Shuptrine’s pursuit of the arts includes schooling at The Baylor School (Chattanooga, TN); The University of the South (Sewanee, TN); and The University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN).

His style is Realism with highly detailed and dramatic lighting in his landscapes and figurative paintings. Shuptrine’s medium is primarily watercolor which he applies and controls in various techniques, from wet-in-wet to drybrush. He prefers to handcraft, carve, and gold leaf his own frames for his paintings.

“Tatting” (watercolor, 16 x 20 in.) by Alan Shuptrine

Recognized by publications such as American Artist Magazine and Watercolor Artist Magazine, Shuptrine garnered additional recognition when he was asked to participate in the exhibit, “In the Tradition of Wyeth: Contemporary Watercolor Masters” at The Vero Beach Museum of Art in 2010. The exhibition opened with Alan’s paintings displayed alongside the works by Andrew Wyeth and his father.

Following the Vero Beach exhibition, the Huntsville Museum of Art and The Tennessee State Museum selected Shuptrine’s watercolors for their permanent collections. After participating in numerous juried exhibitions and receiving awards from national and international watercolor societies, Shuptrine launched his first solo museum exhibition in May, 2017. The exhibition opened at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville and celebrates the Celtic roots of the Appalachian Mountains. Serving as a monument to the descendants of early English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh who settled the Eastern Seaboard, this art collection and soon-to-be coffee table book and documentary film, will collectively preserve mountain heritage and traditions for future generations.

“Beloved” (watercolor, 36 x 54 in.) by Alan Shuptrine

A literary collaboration with Appalachian Trail expert and NY Times Best Selling Author Jennifer Pharr Davis, is currently in progress. Shuptrine and Davis will create a coffee table book which will be a self-published thematic and large format art book. The book will feature the collection of paintings by Alan Shuptrine and accompanying verbiage by Davis.

Alan Shuptrine: Appalachian Watercolors of The Serpentine Chain opened at The Tennessee State Museum in Nashville; following this exhibit, it travels to The Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, Georgia; then to the Huntsville Museum of Art in Alabama; before returning home to The Museum Center at 5ive Points in Cleveland, Tennessee (a Smithsonian affiliate).

Become an American Watercolor Ambassador for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue!


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Kelly Kane
PleinAir Magazine and American Watercolor Weekly Editor-in-Chief With more than 20 years experience in art publishing, Kelly Kane has served previously as Editor-in-Chief of Watercolor Artist magazine and Content Director for The Artist’s Magazine, Drawing, Acrylic Artist, and Pastel Journal. She has interviewed many of the preeminent artists of our time and written numerous articles about painting, drawing, art education and art history. She is now the Editor-in-Chief of PleinAir Magazine and the American Watercolor Weekly newsletter. Click here to send her an email.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Goodness! Thank you SO much for this mention and coverage! Very kind of you Kelly. This has been a long but very rewarding journey over five years—hiking the Appalachian Mountains to get my subject matter (inspirations) and then returning to my studio to paint the finished watercolors. When I reach 100 paintings, now just 12 to go, we will launch the coffee table book in September of 2019. Again, thank you!

  2. Beautiful watercolor “Tatting”, but please consider that this artwork needs a different title. The piece of Whitework Embroidery (Broiderie Anglaise) with net edging that the subject is holding is definitely not tatting, which is a single continuous thread worked in loops and knots to form a lace. Refer to http://www.Victoriana.com for examples of tatting.

  3. Seek accuracy in your definitions. Please review tatting, how it is done and what it looks like.
    I have loved your father’s books and look forward to the continuation of a superior family tradition.

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