Mumma, Lance

Lance Mumma was born and raised in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. He spent a great deal of time in the outdoors, hiking, fishing and camping. Lance's father was a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, and he helped instill in Lance a love and appreciation for the western landscape. Lance's grandmother was an amateur artist who spent many hours teaching Lance how to paint and taking him to galleries and museums. Lance's mother encouraged his artistic development by paying for many art lessons while Lance was growing up. These early influences had a significant impact on the direction and scope of Lance's art career.Lance studied art with local, regional and national artists during middle and high school. He went on to study art at New Mexico State University and the Scottsdale Artists School. Lance has also studied with world-renowned artists such as Valoy Eaton, William Whitaker and Wilson Hurley. Lance eventually moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to be closer to his primary mentor, Wilson Hurley. Lance has been fortunate enough to study the works of the great masters in Europe, Canada and the United States.

Lance's artwork has been shown at the New Mexico State Fair Juried Professional Art Show, and he was profiled in Artists of New Mexico, Volume 2. While living in Albuquerque, Lance taught advanced oil painting at the Art Masters Academy. His paintings are in private and public collections throughout the United States, including several banks and colleges.

The magnificent landscapes of the American Southwest are the primary subject of Lance's artwork. The diverse terrain found in the Four Corner's states, from deserts, to mesas, to the Rocky Mountains, continue to inspire Lance's art. Lance often paints small, on-location field studies that are used to create larger paintings in the studio. Wilson Hurley encouraged Lance to get out of the studio and paint directly from nature. This approach has been one of the most important factors in Lance's art education. Painting directly from nature has taught Lance to see the subtle nuances of light and color that are often not recorded by a camera.