Phil Wright spent most of his life working in business after obtaining a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University and a M.B.A. from Indiana University. While pursuing a career in business and raising a family consumed much of his time, painting has been part of his life, a passion, since an undergraduate at Purdue.
Raised in the Midwest, the son and grandson of farmers, Phil always has had an attachment to the land. He's traveled extensively internationally and lived in Japan and New Zealand. In 2002 Phil and his wife moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where he more actively pursued my interest in oil painting with a focus on landscapes. In 2011 Phil relocated to the Central Coast wine country of Paso Robles, California. He's taken plein air workshops with Scott Christensen, Matt Smith, Ralph Oberg, John Budicin, Huihan Lui, Skip Whitcomb, Jean Perry and Quang Ho.
Inspired by the natural beauty of the outdoors, Phil frequently paints en plein air, sometimes finishing the painting in the field, and sometimes using the plein-air paintings as studies, used to develop finished paintings in the studio. The studies done outdoors provide an essential understanding of light, value, and color relationships found in nature.
