Eric started oil painting at the age of
seven painting en plein-air along with his
father, Kent R. Wallis. Trekking through mountain forests and rural
farmland, the two painted together, scenes of simple, quiet, yet
soulful scenery. Eric became a child prodigy at the side of his
experienced father.
Many awards followed through Eric’s
school years as he continued to find voice in visual clarity. His
impressionistic style continued to develop; color and texture the
focus of the experience.
Eric received a music scholarship at
Utah State University but after teaching a percussion class at a local
middle school, he quickly changed direction and embarked upon an
education in painting. Eric studied with Adrian Van
Suchtelen, an extraordinary figurative
artist with traditional discipline at hand. Glen Edwards from Art
Center, also with a traditional approach, guided Eric in a loose,
impressionistic style. Figure painting was the emphasis at USU. Eric
received a BFA in painting in 1992.
In 1990 Eric embarked on a professional
art career. He was accepted to hang in The Long Gallery of Scottsdale
Arizona. Immediately it became a full time vocation so Eric worked to
finish his junior and senior years at USU and devote himself to
painting. For seventeen years Eric has been working 10 to 12 hour days
to keep up with demand for his colorful, enjoyable paintings. His work
has grown in popularity every year.
Eric has been asked to participate in
many group shows including the prestigious Peppertree Art Show at the
Peppertree Ranch in Santa Ynes California.
Other group shows include the East Meets West show in Gaithersburg
Maryland, the Tri-cities Art Show in Richland Washington, The
Phippen Museum Art Show in Prescott
Arizona, and the Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale Arizona.
Eric’s one-man exhibitions in the
galleries number over thirty and continue each year. Galleries have
found in Eric a prolific talent and continue to bring Wallis’ work to
the forefront of public interest. As Eric paints over 200 paintings a
year, galleries still seem to find more avenues of distribution and a
growing clientele hungry for the work.
The popularity of Eric’s work hasn’t
kept him from reaching. In 1997 he was selected to study with two of
the finest artists in America, Richard Schmid
and Burton Silverman in Loveland Colorado. More discipline and
traditional technique was stressed and Eric began re-tooling skills to
include drawing, value, and chiaroscuro. This emphasis, in addition to
the color and texture of the impressionists, loft Eric’s paintings to
higher levels of subjectivity and emotion. Now substantive, the work
is being recognized by the finest collectors across the United States
and reaching across oceans to England, Italy, Australia, and Turkey.
http://wallisart.com