Aldridge began his artist training at an early age. He remembers wanting to be a professional artist as early as four years of age. Years of drawing prepared him to attend college level art classes at the University of Arkansas while still in junior high school. He began exhibiting nationally while attending the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at Brigham Young University. He began his professional career in earnest while attending the University of Arkansas's Master of Fine Arts program.
After his formal education, Aldridge moved to Utah where he now lives in a small country town with his wife and five children. When he is not painting, he enjoys spending time with his family, gardening, and renovating the 1884 boarding house he calls home.
His paintings are oil on panel with a subdued palette contrasted with a luminous sky. The frames are mostly designed and hand-crafted by the artist with a specific painting or series of paintings in mind. Most are 18 karat or 22 karat gold leaf. One can visit his studio and often find a frame and painting on the easel, both in progress.
My ultimate goal in art is to create objects of beauty which nourish the viewer on a spiritual level.
I am interested in how I feel when I am in a particular landscape. In the studio, I close my eyes and remember the experience of being in a specific place and paint from that memory. For instance, when I am on a flat plain, there is a feeling of vast openness. When I am in the woods, I feel surrounded, enclosed and protected. I absorb the emotions of a place and let them be my guide.
------Brad Aldridge
