Stephen Moody paints light and energy. A figurative abstract expressionist, he works in large-scale oils, most 24 by 36 inches or larger and many as large as 40 by 60 inches. His figures surface from somewhere deep within him, drawn by the feeling of beauty and the energy that creates it. Dancers, lovers, and luminous forms glow against textured darkness in fire-toned reds, oranges, and golds, their edges blurred as if caught in the moment of arriving. Many of his works are spiritual in nature. Many people feel them. Some can only see them.

Each painting begins as a monochromatic sketch. From there Moody builds the image in layers, some opaque and some transparent, until it reaches the look he envisions. Light passes through the transparent layers and reflects back from those beneath, giving his figures their inner glow. He leaves each image open so viewers can complete it in their own way.

Born on St. Simons Island, Georgia, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, Moody grew up hiking mountains, running rivers, and exploring caves. His mother introduced him to art early, with visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tate in London, and the Jeu de Paume in Paris, then home to the great Impressionist collection. Edgar Degas made the deepest impression of all. Moody has flown across the country just to stand in front of his work again, and Degas’s dancers live on in Moody’s own, glowing out of darkness on canvas after canvas.

Art also runs in his family. His great-grandmother, Alice Merrill Horne, sponsored the 1899 bill that created the Utah Art Institute. It was the first state arts agency in the nation and the forerunner of today’s Utah Arts Council.

Moody’s first medium was the camera. His father gave him a Kodak when he was six, and by 24 he had opened a portrait studio in Salt Lake City, where his boudoir portraits and studies of dancers began a career devoted to the human form. He earned the Master of Photography degree from the Professional Photographers of America in 1990, along with regional Photographer of the Year honors. Frustrated that photographic prints fade, he looked for a more lasting medium. In Scottsdale he began experimenting with underwater photography but couldn’t find his way into it. Then, in 2003, a transformative encounter with an Australian shaman changed everything. He returned to the water and created a series of underwater images that became the blueprints for his oil paintings, and he has painted ever since. He studied broadcast journalism with a minor in French, and he has continued his fine art training through numerous painting courses.

He is also a bestselling novelist. His first novel, Hold On to the Love: Forbidden Love, reached #1 on Amazon in Romantic Erotica and Erotic Suspense, and The Enchanted Realm reached #2 in Women’s Fantasy Fiction. His own paintings appear on his book covers, and the characters he paints often find their way into his stories. His longtime employer, a major national retailer, has hosted exhibitions of his work for new audiences.

Moody paints in his studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, which he shares with two dogs and two cats.

Represented by Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale

Read Stephen's latest interview with Voyage Phoenix Magazine - Read.

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