Kevin Sloan

Last year I had the opportunity to meet Kevin Sloan while on a Student Art League trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Kevin gave us a tour of his studio, took the time to have lunch with us, and offered some wonderful advice for emerging and student artists.  Read more about the advice he shared with.

Kevin's art uses animals in a vast array of environments to create "allegorical realism."  I love the vivid colors and detailed image.


One of the most significant aspects that I can take from Kevin's work is the development of a style or niche in his art.  I think that he has many subjects which he paints but there is always something that carries through.  There is certainly unity and variety in any given group of works.  I think what this could look like for me and my art is having work that all addresses real issues but the specific issues and maybe even mediums used to communicate can vary.  How my work fits together as a whole is something that I am really trying to work through and figure out...Check out my Art+ blog to read more about my work and follow me through this process of developing my work.

Pat Kikut

Patrick Kikut is a professor at the University of Wyoming.  Though I have not taken him for many classes (which I would still like to take his painting class) I have had the opportunity to get to know him through Student Art League (SAL).  As the SAL adviser, Pat has taken us to Santa Fe (which I just learned is the second largest art market in the nation) for a trip each year as well as Denver and helped with many other events.  Though I do love Pat's artwork, I think that his ambition and entrepreneurship as an artist may be what is the most inspiring to me. These are both skills that I think are often forgotten about but absolutely necessary for an artist to survive.

Pat has taken on many endeavors including starting a small gallery in his back yard while living in Santa Fe. The space was called "No Man's Land Gallery." The gallery featured artists from all over the country. Along with the gallery Pat set up a small stage and would have bands play and someone would be cooking on the bar-b.

The business and marketing aspects are a huge part of what I would love to take from what I have learned from Pat Kikut. I would really enjoy setting up an exhibition in a small gallery space like this.  (I will post some pictures of the space on my art blog) I would love to have a studio and gallery space for my artwork some day. In addition to a gallery/studio space I certainly want to teach art lessons from the space.  

Be sure to follow my personal art blog.

What is Real

This Dutch artist, Evelien Lohbeck, really blurs the lines between reality and fiction.  Follow the link o find out a bit more about her and watch the video.  I am nit sure exactly what draws me toward this work.  I know that it grew on me about half way through.  I am quite honestly not sure what I want to take from this artist.  Maybe the use of old techniques in a more complicated, perfected and a new way.

Jerrell Conner

A great Kickstarter campaign.  It was unsuccessful, but possessed many great qualities.  This artists is a graphic novelist and illustrator.  I like his use of color and would love to learn more about digital illustration. 

Levi Van Veluw

Levi Van Veluw uses ballpoint pens to draw on the figure.  I really love work that utilizes the human figure.  For my next body of work I would like to use some imagery of vines (but more like a blob or virus type of imagery) over taking the body.  I plan to use hands and feet rather than faces, but I will be coming back to Levi for more inspiration.

Miss Bugs

I just stumbled upon Miss Bugs' work today and am quite amazed with her outdoor graffiti style installations.  They are unique and attention grabbing.  I think this work related to my work in that it inspires me to get my work into the community, beyond exhibitions.  I am not sure what exactly this would mean, but I would love to create some sort of viral image that spread around a town (I do have some ideas, but execution is the challenge.).

Abdi Farrah

Slaveship

Abdi Farrah was one of the two people on Work of Art that I really liked thee whole way through (and the other I didn't like in a couple rounds)and he was the winner.  I really like his work that focuses on religion and African American history or experiences.

Baptism (Flickr.com)