Larry Schultz is an accomplished artist from the Midwest with degrees in both Commercial Art and Art Education. He paints a variety of subjects and has worked with many different mediums, though his main focus right now is oil painting.

Schultz has a true passion for art. He’s received numerous awards and honors for his art, as well as having it featured in magazines, on posters, and in public and private art galleries. His art has also been sold throughout the United States and abroad, demonstrating the connection people have with his pieces.

“I paint any subject, mostly in oil. In past years, I’ve done a lot of farm subjects, and dairy subjects, and horse and carriage subjects, but I’ll do anything. I’ve even done murals,” he said.

While he has used a lot of art mediums throughout his career, he finds the most enjoyment in using oils.

“When I was in college, [oil] was one of the classes we did, and I just haven’t finished with it. I’ve done any medium — watercolor, acrylic, sculpture, pen and ink, pretty much anything. I’ve done it, and I can do it, but I’m kind of stuck on oil,” he said.

He said he feels that there is something he loves about every painting he’s done, and that there is not just one specific piece that he favors more than the others.

“Every time I do one, there’s something about it that I learn from or that sticks out to me or that I like, and certain parts of paintings I like, and I try to replicate it in other paintings. I’m just trying to keep getting better and better at it all the time,” he said.

Schultz has been interested in and doing art since he was younger, his talent and interest only growing from there.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I was always easily inspired. If I saw something, I had to try it. So I’ve always been drawn to it, but making a go of trying to sell it and everything I started in 1990,” Schultz said.

There are several things that can bring him inspiration, but one fact remains true with his paintings: he wants to be able to tell a story and evoke emotions in the observer.

“Sometimes it’s the technique that other artists use, and it inspires me to try it. Other inspirations are things that I’ve experienced through life with farming, horses and cows. I like to have all my art tell a story or portray a feeling that would make people feel like they’re there. So pretty much in a nutshell, anything that would grab anybody with a story,” he said.

He goes to many different events to showcase and sell his work, and he’s always open to learning and trying new things.

“Along with some of the other areas of painting besides canvas, I do murals, and I go to the World Dairy Expo with a booth every year, the Midwest Horse Fair, and the Villa Louis Carriage Classic,” he said. “I also do plein air painting, which is impressionism outdoors; you paint from life. That’s been an expanding learning thing where if you paint from photographs, you don’t always see everything that’s there, but when you paint from life, you see more. A better way to be a better artist is to be a better seer, and a better way to be a better seer is to see what’s there instead of what your brain thinks is there.”