I have the great honor of sharing with you an interview with a great artist! RW2 Gallery was one of the very first shops I ever hearted (well I hearted a lot, but this was one of them!) when I started bobbing around etsy years ago. I am sure after you read more about him, you will be hearting him too!
_____
Bio:
Artist's Philosophy
Since early childhood I have used art as an escape from a world I have often felt to be cold and dismal. It is a place riddled with one-way signs and dead ends that have never reflected the true beauty and wonder of life.
Growing up in Northeast Ohio among the choked gray smokestacks of forgotten industry and broken dreams, I was fortunate to have a creative drive and an ever supporting mother as a fellow dreamer and willing audience. Her spontaneous and often eccentric personality found us on adventures across America. Awesome to behold and sometimes frightening, these experiences sparked inspiration for me to capture and display. Whether using finger paints or a crayons I realized early on that my dreams could be funneled through my hands for the world to enjoy.
In 1998, I left my home to attend The Columbus College of Art and Design. I learned to sharpen my natural skills as a painter and further explore the relationships betwixt color and the senses. This experience aroused my own needs to discover the natural wonders of the earth and share my vision with others. I moved to Europe in the fall of 2001. Painting on the islands of Spain or in a dank Amsterdam coffee shop was some of my most treasured life lessons thus far. After a year of traveling and studying I moved to New Orleans to create my own world of Pop Surrealism.
My work reflects my way of life; to live loud regardless of what the emperor appears to be wearing. Art is the freedom that the product imitates; it’s the hunger that war promises is on the way. Creation is a prerequisite for life, and that force is in our hands.
In the summer of 2004 I moved to Columbus Ohio and opened RW2 Gallery at 1178 B N. High St. A theater of my imagination; raw and unconventional it has served host to my artwork, and a playground for local performance artist.
I believe that art is for everyone regardless of economic background or scholastic accomplishment. Art should inspire the heavy leaden and touch the lonely. It should reflect the beauty of the admirer and stir the soul of the apathetic. With my art I hope to remind the world of the wonder we used to feel as children and to reconnect us all to what matters most--Life.
How did you find Etsy? How long have you been selling on Etsy?
If my memory serves me correctly, it was a few years ago, I was shamelessly self promoting my art on myspace and someone had posted a link that said a great way for artist to sell there own work... or something to that effect. I listed a few things and quickly saw Etsy was Crazy for ZOMBIES!!!! I have a spectrum of different things I like to paint but the only sales I made at first on Etsy was ZOMBIES...
How would you describe your style? Has any other artist etc influenced your style?
Environmental Surrealism, plus Zombies and Mermaids...lol I like Vargas, hes thie biggest influence because before I could get live models I used to flip through his book and create painting using the poses he put his models in...
How long have you been creating?
Ive been living off my art since 2004 when I oppened a gallery, since then I have been doing a good online buisness and my main bread and butter is the Festival Circuit. Ive been creating though since I came out my mamma!
What are your inspirations?
My environment, and I am lucky enough that I can spend a lot of time in my head... I get a little more crazy each year, my art gets a little better too.
Have you had any mentors, or are you self taught?
My High School Teach is always worth mentioning James Resticcio... I started Art School- I QUIT art school, I have learned most everything from the library, in how too books... Im self taught.
Do you sell more at one time of year than others?
Online Christmas... But most of my sales are in the summer when I am on the road everyday, traveling...
What is one thing about your creative process that you think most people don’t know?
The time it takes to create an oil painting.
What kind of custom work do you do most often? What has been your favorite custom order?
I very rarly accept a custom order, I have to be into it.
Do you have a favorite item you have made?
My latest is always my favorite, but the painting that is most special to my heart is Azorie
http://www.rw2gallery.com/Mermaids-Azorie.html
What is the best reaction you have gotten from one of your pieces?
The voice mail above, its hard to hear, Im working on making it lowder... the second is this:
"YOU HAVE SO MUCH TALENT!!! SO MUCH POWER TO INFLUENCE OTHERS AND THE WORLD...BUT I AM REALLY DISTURBED BY THIS PORTRAYAL...I KNOW THE DARKNESS EXISTS...BUT I CAN NOT STAND THIS CRUEL IMAGE IT ABHORS ME...I AM SORRY...I don't think everything is sweet and spice or expect that it ever will be in this world...but this image is a complete Nightmare that seems to give too much life to evil...I SEE WHAT YOU ARE GETTING AT...AND IT IS TRULY FREAKY TO ME...MAYBE THAT IS YOUR INTENT...it kind of turns my innards is all...Sorry."
http://www.rw2gallery.com/photoalbulm_Current6.html
http://www.rw2gallery.com/Fairytales-Golden_Goose.html
The reason I find this to be such a compliment is because they had such an intense reaction.
Heres more if your not bored to tears
http://www.rw2gallery.com/FAQ_page.html
Bio:
"As each year goes by I become a little more
detached with the world that surrounds me,
while becoming amassed in my own world of
grandeur; a land still ample in magic, lush
with imagination, and submersed in emotion.
With each piece that becomes real and not
just a fantastical idea in my head, my
microcosm grows, and I believe in its
actuality, A place more real than the ideas we
are told we should believe, a place where
happy endings are relative, and madness can
be law, and everything, to me, is beautiful..."
detached with the world that surrounds me,
while becoming amassed in my own world of
grandeur; a land still ample in magic, lush
with imagination, and submersed in emotion.
With each piece that becomes real and not
just a fantastical idea in my head, my
microcosm grows, and I believe in its
actuality, A place more real than the ideas we
are told we should believe, a place where
happy endings are relative, and madness can
be law, and everything, to me, is beautiful..."
Artist's PhilosophySince early childhood I have used art as an escape from a world I have often felt to be cold and dismal. It is a place riddled with one-way signs and dead ends that have never reflected the true beauty and wonder of life.
Growing up in Northeast Ohio among the choked gray smokestacks of forgotten industry and broken dreams, I was fortunate to have a creative drive and an ever supporting mother as a fellow dreamer and willing audience. Her spontaneous and often eccentric personality found us on adventures across America. Awesome to behold and sometimes frightening, these experiences sparked inspiration for me to capture and display. Whether using finger paints or a crayons I realized early on that my dreams could be funneled through my hands for the world to enjoy.
In 1998, I left my home to attend The Columbus College of Art and Design. I learned to sharpen my natural skills as a painter and further explore the relationships betwixt color and the senses. This experience aroused my own needs to discover the natural wonders of the earth and share my vision with others. I moved to Europe in the fall of 2001. Painting on the islands of Spain or in a dank Amsterdam coffee shop was some of my most treasured life lessons thus far. After a year of traveling and studying I moved to New Orleans to create my own world of Pop Surrealism.
My work reflects my way of life; to live loud regardless of what the emperor appears to be wearing. Art is the freedom that the product imitates; it’s the hunger that war promises is on the way. Creation is a prerequisite for life, and that force is in our hands.
In the summer of 2004 I moved to Columbus Ohio and opened RW2 Gallery at 1178 B N. High St. A theater of my imagination; raw and unconventional it has served host to my artwork, and a playground for local performance artist.I believe that art is for everyone regardless of economic background or scholastic accomplishment. Art should inspire the heavy leaden and touch the lonely. It should reflect the beauty of the admirer and stir the soul of the apathetic. With my art I hope to remind the world of the wonder we used to feel as children and to reconnect us all to what matters most--Life.
How did you find Etsy? How long have you been selling on Etsy?
If my memory serves me correctly, it was a few years ago, I was shamelessly self promoting my art on myspace and someone had posted a link that said a great way for artist to sell there own work... or something to that effect. I listed a few things and quickly saw Etsy was Crazy for ZOMBIES!!!! I have a spectrum of different things I like to paint but the only sales I made at first on Etsy was ZOMBIES...
How would you describe your style? Has any other artist etc influenced your style?
Environmental Surrealism, plus Zombies and Mermaids...lol I like Vargas, hes thie biggest influence because before I could get live models I used to flip through his book and create painting using the poses he put his models in...
How long have you been creating?
Ive been living off my art since 2004 when I oppened a gallery, since then I have been doing a good online buisness and my main bread and butter is the Festival Circuit. Ive been creating though since I came out my mamma!
What are your inspirations?
My environment, and I am lucky enough that I can spend a lot of time in my head... I get a little more crazy each year, my art gets a little better too.
My High School Teach is always worth mentioning James Resticcio... I started Art School- I QUIT art school, I have learned most everything from the library, in how too books... Im self taught.
Do you sell more at one time of year than others?
Online Christmas... But most of my sales are in the summer when I am on the road everyday, traveling...
What is one thing about your creative process that you think most people don’t know?
The time it takes to create an oil painting.
What kind of custom work do you do most often? What has been your favorite custom order?
I very rarly accept a custom order, I have to be into it.
Do you have a favorite item you have made?
My latest is always my favorite, but the painting that is most special to my heart is Azorie
http://www.rw2gallery.com/Mermaids-Azorie.html
What is the best reaction you have gotten from one of your pieces?
"YOU HAVE SO MUCH TALENT!!! SO MUCH POWER TO INFLUENCE OTHERS AND THE WORLD...BUT I AM REALLY DISTURBED BY THIS PORTRAYAL...I KNOW THE DARKNESS EXISTS...BUT I CAN NOT STAND THIS CRUEL IMAGE IT ABHORS ME...I AM SORRY...I don't think everything is sweet and spice or expect that it ever will be in this world...but this image is a complete Nightmare that seems to give too much life to evil...I SEE WHAT YOU ARE GETTING AT...AND IT IS TRULY FREAKY TO ME...MAYBE THAT IS YOUR INTENT...it kind of turns my innards is all...Sorry."
http://www.rw2gallery.com/photoalbulm_Current6.html
http://www.rw2gallery.com/Fairytales-Golden_Goose.html
The reason I find this to be such a compliment is because they had such an intense reaction.
Heres more if your not bored to tears
http://www.rw2gallery.com/FAQ_page.html
Very cool stuff. I particularly like the Alice in Wonderland themed stuff, and the toxic balloon boy.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for introducing me to an amazing artist! Definitely will be hearting him, and definitely not bored to tears.
ReplyDelete