Through The Cottonwoods

Lee Stroncek

A native of Minnesota, Lee Stroncek arrived at his painting career as many others have: the spark of adolescent creativity is kindled and nurtured by parental support, hard work and determination. Stroncek’s lifelong obsession with natural history and the outdoor experience led him to begin his formal education with a study of wildlife and fisheries biology at the Universities of Montana and Alaska. However, desiring to express himself creatively, Stroncek continued his studies at Colorado State University focusing on fine art. A full-time artist for nearly two decades, Lee Stroncek’s art holds many qualities which have drawn a great audience of collectors. One quality which can be recognized in all of Stroncek’s work is its genuine nature and the relationship he desires viewers to have with his art. “I feel that attaching awards and honors to an artist’s name as a means of validating his or her work is overemphasized. Ultimately, the work should speak for itself. The viewer will know immediately if a painting came from the artist’s heart or from the dubious desire to sell a picture with his or her name attached to it.” However, if you have painted “from the heart” and your talents are as finely tuned as Stroncek’s, your work is bound to be recognized. His acrylics and watercolors can be found in public and private collections throughout the United States. His works have also appeared in such outdoor and fine arts publications as Sports Afield, Field & Stream, Fly Fisherman, Trout, Southwest Art, Wildlife Art News, Sporting Classics, Yankee, and In-Fisherman magazines. In 1985 and 1988, his work was chosen for the California Wild Trout Stamp print design. He was a regional winner in the 1987 “Arts for the Parks” competition sponsored by the National Park Academy of the Arts and has shown in several “Birds in Art” exhibitions at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. Furthering the authentic “soul” in Stroncek’s art is the simplicity with which he chooses his subjects. “A good painting can come out of any subject, past or present. It may be a familiar, perhaps even mundane, scene that one encounters daily or a one-time experience that so moves the artist that he or she is compelled to record the impression.” Lee Stroncek continues to study the great outdoors and the beauty of its natural history residing in Montana with his wife, Janet.