Roland Lee has become nationally known for his transparent watercolors of the southwest landscape, the pioneer west, and rural European scenes. A signature member of the National Watercolor Society, he devotes full-time to painting from his studio in the historic district of St. George, Utah.
“I’m often asked if I’m afraid I’ll run out of things to paint. That could never happen…My biggest fear is not having enough time in my life to paint all the things that interest me.” — Roland Lee
Since 1979 Roland has concentrated on the medium of transparent watercolor using no white, black, or opaque paints. A graduate of Brigham Young University, he has exhibited and won awards in over 100 invitational juried shows, including The National Watercolor Society, Watercolor West, the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, The Utah Watercolor Society, and Arts for the Parks Top 100. In 2014 he was awarded the Governor’s Mansion Medal from Utah Governor Gary Herbert for his contributions to the Arts in Utah.
Roland’s original paintings can be found in over 2000 public and private collections throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. His paintings are in the permanent collections of Dixie State University, Springville Museum of Art, St. George Art Museum, Southern Utah Museum of Art, and several National Parks.
Roland’s paintings have been featured in “American Watercolor Weekly”, “Plein Air Magazine,” “Western Art Collector Magazine,” “Southwest Art,” “The Artist’s Magazine,” “Western Art and Architecture Magazine”, and “Art West” magazine. His paintings have appeared on the cover the LDS “Ensign” magazine.
He is featured in the books, “The River Flows – Watercolors of the American West,” “Discovering Zion, A Pictorial Guide to Zion National Park”, “Art of the National Parks,” “Splash 11, Best of Watercolor” from Northlight Books, “Century of Sanctuary: Art of Zion National Park”, “Painting in Watercolor, the indispensable guide” from Quarto Press, “Contemporary Western Artists” by Peggy and Harold Samuels, “Painters of Utah’s Canyons and Deserts”by Donna Poulton and Vern Swanson, “Artists of Utah”, by Swanson, and “McKittrick’s Guide to Fine Art.”
