Gunther Haidenthaler - Feeding the Horses

Original Oil Painting 12"x12"

Who I Am

Born in Wels, Austria, I grew up in shouting distance of the most beautiful Alps in the world, playing among 2000-year-old Roman ruins and leftover WWII bomb craters, spending weekends watching sailplanes and wishing I could fly. Immigrated to the US with my family when I was 6 years old. A bit of a late bloomer, I learned to ski, rock climb, ice climb, fly fish, skydive and whitewater kayak as an adult. I’ve been drawing all my life, had lots of art classes in junior high and high school. Did a year at Utah State University, majoring in illustration and advertising design, then served a 2-year proselyting mission back home in Austria for my church. Upon returning to the U.S., I devoted the next 27 years to graphic design and art direction, gaining experience in photography, offset and screen printing as well (hey–it paid the bills!). I also spent 25 years as a professional US Soccer Federation Referee, Instructor and Assessor. Upon leaving graphic design in 2005, I worked in soccer administration. Ten years later, with the encouragement of my wife Diane, I left soccer to paint full time.

What I’m About

Being Austrian, I am haunted by the ethereal, dreamlike quality of light in the moisture-laden European atmosphere. I strive to express that longing in every image I create, and hope that the viewer will feel my vision. Art is about passion, and this is mine. I never want to lose the childlike sense of wonder I still experience as an adult. The drama of a storm-tossed sea or sky, the rich glow of colors after a rain, the interplay of light and shadow, the contrast of warm to cool, the thunderous power of a waterfall and the hush of the dawn. ”For it must needs be that there is an opposition in all things.” (II Nephi 2:11) Or, put another way: “for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction.” (Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion) Who didn’t love playing with crayons and paint, traveling to all sorts of magical, fantastical realms in our minds when we were kids? I believe the only thing which sets humans apart from the animals is our ability to visualize, imagine, fantasize, to create. That gift comes from Him who is literally the Father of our spirits, the Supreme Creator Himself. Life is all about contrasts, and the balance and beauty inherent in that is what I strive to express with my art.