About
Artwork beyond the comfortable
I have lived in the Edwardsville area for almost 20 years. Growing up I have lived all over the Midwest from Toledo to Minneapolis with stops in Cleveland and Chicago. I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. I went to art school for graphic design and was exposed to painting and drawing. Over my tenure in school Painting became a significant emphasis that I could have graduated with an official degree in painting. However, for gainful employment my degree is in Graphic Design. My career has taken me in a different direction, presently, I am employed in Corporate Properties.
Artistically, I have been influenced and interested in expressionist painting over the years, especially the abstract expressionist. However, one of the the groups of most interest is the American Surrealist who were the precursors to the American abstract expressionist. This group of artist were working in New York City and met regular during the thirties and fourties. Peggy Guggenhiem had a show called “The Art of This Century” in 1942 that included many of the artist from this group including the early works of Jackson Pollick before his action paintings that brought him to the forefront of the American Art Scene. I am also very interested and drawn to the recent German abstract expressionist from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Their work is very strong and emotionally charged.
Presently, I am working with Painter X, a laptop, and a drawing tablet. What I can do electronically would have required a large studio and space that I used to need for my oil paintings. I prefer to work very large and painterly. Tubes of paint were never enough, I used gallons of it. I needed a lot of space for the many pieces that were in process. Because of the way that I work and the space that I need, I have not been able to work for quite sometime. My wife who is a painter as well, has explored for years many of the digital options available to artist for her own work which you can view at www.herartworks.com I finally broke down and decided to try it and I was quite surprised how realistic Painter felt with the immediacy and expressiveness qualities that are achievable. The breadth that Painter has to offer for a traditional media such as painting is impressive. I have been working for a little over a year and enjoy it tremendously.