Aspen Art Festival Taps Schaefer-Miles to Create Official Poster
Image courtesy of Kevin Miles
Kevin Miles and Wendy Schaefer-Miles consider Colorado a second home, so it was only fitting they were selected to celebrate its scenic landscapes through official artwork.
The Aspen Chamber of Commerce chose the husband and wife duo to create the official poster for its 15th Annual Downtown Aspen Art Festival, held July 23–24.
The Wisconsin-based artists have enjoyed spending their summers in Colorado for the past 25 years, finding inspiration for their detailed landscape paintings in the state’s natural beauty. The Schaefer-Miles duo is known for painting together. Wendy starts their paintings with the initial color and broad strokes and Kevin finishes them by filling in the fine details.
For the festival poster, Schaefer/Miles depicted the view of Mount Sopris from a ranch just outside of Aspen. While the artists paint in a Neo-Impressionist style, they often stress that what they paint is inspired by real places.
“We love Aspen, so [painting the poster] was fun,” Wendy said. “We love it out there, it’s beautiful.”
“Leave the Light On” (2016), Schaefer/Miles
The Downtown Aspen Art Festival has become one of the top to-dos for fans of art, showcasing everything from sculptures, photography, and jewelry to paintings and mixed media collages. This is the second time Schaefer/Miles was selected to create the art festival’s poster. In 2005, the Aspen Chamber of Commerce selected the artist duo to paint the art festival’s poster artwork.
In addition to working with Park West Gallery, Kevin says opportunities like creating the poster help achieve the artistic goal the couple established when they began painting together in 1988.
“When we started out, we actually wrote out a mission statement and a five-year plan and said we wanted to be published around the world,” Kevin says. “We’ve done everything we set out to do.”
To collect your own Schaefer-Miles artwork, check out the 2017 Summer Sale. Contact our gallery consultants at (800) 521-9654 ext. 4 during normal business hours or sales@parkwestgallery.com after hours for more information.
