Artist Rob Akey puts personal experience into oil paintings

Before Rob Akey begins putting oil to canvas, he must first experience what will eventually become the subject of his painting.

That means a day spent studying the railroad tracks along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, turning the car around on a road trip to take in a scene along the Missouri River or taking the time to study the details of a rusted tractor in a field.

“I paint a lot of different things, but what I paint is based upon what I know and my personal experiences,” he said. “I need to get a sense of context in the experience. I need to engage with the place beyond how it looks — what are the sounds and how does it smell.”

Akey’s work runs a wide variety of subject matters — wildlife, landscapes, railroad engines, streetscapes and people. Through his work, he says, he aims to create a sense of place and emotion.

“I always steer back to the things that most come from my heart,” he said. “I’m always rediscovering Glacier National Park, Whitefish and Montana in general.”

Sitting in a wood shop converted into an art studio in the backyard of his Whitefish home, Akey says looking back, the variety of his subjects is likely a reflection of his life.

“My whole life has been varied,” he said. “I was born in Whitefish and spent time in California. We had larger moves and within that smaller moves, and I attended different schools. I have a real desire to seek variety in the work I do.”

Akey was born in Whitefish and after his family spent time in California and Great Falls, he graduated from Whitefish High School.

As a child he doodled quite a bit and knew he had some ability with art, but when he attended Montana State University he began studying foreign languages. After a year he returned to Whitefish to work and that’s when he began working with Bob McKinney, a landscape artist who encouraged Akey to return to college.

At Montana State University, one of Akey’s art professors suggested he attend art college and helped him pull together his portfolio. He went on to complete his degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

He took a position as a designer of Tonka Toys and later a model rocket company, but as he continued to be promoted within those companies he was working less in art and more on the business side of the industry.

In 1993, he and his wife Kim along with their daughter Josie made the move back to Montana. Akey built up a commercial embroidery business with the intent of pursuing his art career alongside. In 2005, he sold his business setting aside enough money to give himself two years to pursue his goal of becoming a full-time artist.

“I haven’t looked back,” he said. “Every leap I took got me here and I wouldn’t change that.”

Having a previous career in the corporate world, along with a wife who keeps him on track, Akey applies a 9 to 5 work ethic when it comes to painting. He focuses on a few paintings at a time until they are complete before moving to his next project. For the roughly 70 paintings he completes each year in various sizes, he stretches his own canvas and when a painting is complete he also frames it in the work space off his studio.

After years of creating art work and displaying in galleries and art shows, Akey knows which of his painting subject matters are more likely to be purchased. Still for him the focus has always been about making sure his work conveys a conversation with the viewer of the painting, rather than making a sale.

“I’m entering a comfortable phase in my work,” he said. “I paint what I want to paint.”

A small painting on display in his studio, came simply out of walking his dog through the same alley near his home — it depicts a winter scene with light streaming between trees into the alleyway.

“I love that alley,” he said. “It shows a scene of being alone and quiet and reflective. It’s about an intimate life experience.”

If there’s a theme that comes through in much of his artwork, it’s of the hard times that have come from living life in Montana. The tractors are rusted, the steam engines chug along the railroad track and the streetscapes show the impact of change on history.

“It’s showing the vestiges of human toil and experience,” he said. “It’s literally everywhere.”

Akey’s work is on display at Dick Idol Signature Gallery in Whitefish, Latigo & Lace Gallery in Augusta and Montana Trails Gallery in Bozeman. He serves on the board of the Hockaday Museum of Art where his work has been exhibited, and is president of the Montana Painters Alliance.

Now in his 60s, Akey says he doesn’t think of retirement in terms of no longer painting. He says maybe one day people will stop purchasing his paintings, but he has no intention of putting down his brushes.

“I’m hoping that people look back at my work one or two generations from now and say that still speaks to me,” he said. “When I chose art I decided I’d never retire. I don’t see myself ever not painting.”

For more information, visit https://www.robakey.com/.