First I'd like to say, I'm glad to be back in the United States of America !There's no place like home. My family and I had lived in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from August of 2000, until August 2007. We were missionaries there, it was a great experience ! As an artist it was also very beneficial, St. Petersburg is the art "meca" of north east Europe. There are thousands of artist in St. Pete. not to mention the world famous Hermitage, which had free entrance the first Thursday of the month. There were dozens of artist on Nevsky Prospect at an out door art fair selling some really great works of art. There were galleries and some really good art supply stores everywhere, in the center of the city. One of my favorite places was the Russia National Museum. It had only works by Russian artist. The works by Repin, and others were just unbelievable, because of the size. My guess would be 12 feet tall and 20 feet long, with huge frames that must have weighed a ton ! Well, enough about Life in St. Pete. I drew my first commissioned portrait in 1972, at age 13. I had my first one-man art show at the Briggs Lawrence County Library, at age 15. Then February 7, 1976 I won the Scholastic Art Gold Key Award in oil painting. Boy, that was a long time ago. I worked 21 years in the graphic arts industry, and then 10 years as a missionary, now I've resigned from the mission agency, and am a full-time painter. I painted through the years and taught private art classes. I think I've reached a new level in my painting, but I think I could draw better when I was a student years ago. Although I stated that I am a portrait painter, I enjoy painting landscapes and sometimes wildlife. I would like to go back to St. Petersburg someday just to paint, or even take a small group of artist for a workshop, that would be great ! I'm glad I found Art Calendar magazine,
Thank You !
kjhartist |
