Kent Wallis (American, b. 1945) Reaching High Oil on canvas 30 × 40 in. Signed lower right: “Kent Wallis”
In Reaching High, Kent Wallis transforms water lilies into a dynamic study of color, movement, and vertical aspiration. Thick, expressive brushstrokes lift the blossoms above the water’s surface, while saturated blues and greens create a vibrant, shifting ground below. The upward thrust of the flowers suggests growth and vitality, balancing the calm horizontality of the pond with an energetic sense of motion and light.
Kent Wallis is a Utah-based painter recognized for his expressive landscapes and floral subjects inspired by the natural world of the American West. Educated at the University of Utah, Wallis developed a bold, painterly style defined by vivid color and confident mark-making. His work emphasizes emotional response and visual rhythm, reinforcing painting as an immediate and physical engagement with nature.
