Artist of the Month March 2026

Hoyt Stover

Woodstock, Georgia, USA

Hoyt Stover is a Georgia-based artist with a BFA in painting and drawing from Kennesaw State University. He is a realist painter whose work explores narrative story telling of metal work artists and industrial work through the use of lose brushwork, apotheosis, impasto, and intense lighting. Stover’s work is heavily influenced by compositions and themes from classical art with a blend of contemporary painting aesthetics. Stover has already been included in various important exhibitions including the “GLA Art Auction” at King’s Plow Art Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

How and when did you start creating art?

I have always loved making art, but I started taking it seriously about 2 years ago. After taking my first painting class in college I absolutely fell in love with painting, and devoted all of my time to it since then.

What media and genres do you work in?

I primarily work in oils, but I also like to do smaller works in acrylics, pen and ink wash, or watercolor.

Who or what are your influences?

I’ve had many influences from old master painters to contemporary artist. Rembrandt is my favorite artist and has always been my biggest influence. Other artists that have a huge impact on my paintings are Diego Velazquez, Edgar Degas, Edward Hopper, George Bellows, Lucian Freud, Eric Fischel, and my painting professors from college.

What was your inspiration for

Fire and Iron

?

My dad is a carpenter, so I’ve always grown up around large, industrial-like machines and was raised to work hard in everything that I do. When I got into college, I took a sculpture class and discovered metal casting. I instantly felt a connection to the hard labor around the activity and knew I wanted to paint it. Since then, the series has evolved into an homage to metal artist, industrial work, and the hard work that often goes unnoticed

Describe your creative process?

I usually spend a lot of time looking at reference images that I’ve collected from going to local iron pouring events. I then spend time thumbnailing different compositions. Composition is super important to me when I’m creating a painting. If I don’t like the composition Its normally hard for me to finish the piece. From there I’ll usually do some sort of rendered sketch or color study in ink or acrylics. I’ve recently been doing block in with acrylics and then going over top of that with oils to speed up my process. From there I do the remaining problem solving on the canvas, remembering to keep some of the initial looseness from early on.

What are you working on currently?

I’m currently working on putting together my first solo show in April. It will have some more of the Iron pour paintings with some ink drawings and studies. After that I plan on continuing  this series till Inspiration strikes elsewere.

What are your near/long term goals as an artist?

My short-term goals are to create more paintings, enter into competitions and shows, and try to find some sort of gallery representation. My long-term goals are to be a full-time artist, and potentially go get my MFA somewhere.

Where can people view/purchase your work (gallery, website, etc)?

You can follow me on Instagram at hoyt_stover. I post most of my work on there. I’m working on a website that will have everything on it and a link for that will be posted soon. If you want to purchase work, email me at hoytstoverarts@gmail.com or direct message me on Instagram.