Maryland
Hans Guerin, Out of the Ether, oil, 26 x 30.
What inspired your winning entry? I’ve painted gourds every fall for the past six years: I find the strangest ones and see if I can do something meaningful with them. They are wonderful to paint for their textures, colors, and longevity. My intent is to hint at the mystery of creation and life.
How would you describe your style? Classical realism. It’s fairly tight in rendering, although if you look closely you’ll see small, unblended brush strokes. I love realism because on the surface it’s a pretty painting, but an onlooker can interpret it in a personal way.
How did you first get interested in art?
I was born interested in art. My brother and I are the sixth consecutive generation of artists in our family.
What artists have influenced your work? My mentors were the teachers at the Schuler School of Fine Arts, especially Ann Didusch Schuler. My biggest influence is my artist wife, Beth de Loiselle. She’s the sounding board for my ideas and provides insightful critiques.
What’s the most meaningful recognition you’ve received for your artwork?
I was awarded third place in an Art Renewal Center Salon.
What is your creative process? I start ideas with a thumbnail doodle. From there I like to do a finished sketch and do color studies. I start the final painting with a drawing in umber paint. In the next stage I go straight into blocks of color and proceed to whittle those shapes down to details with increasingly smaller brush strokes.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be? A chef. I worked many restaurant gigs in college, and I cook for my wife and son.
What galleries represent your work? Marine Arts Gallery, Marblehead, MA; Dog and Horse Fine Art and Portraiture, Charleston, SC; Schuler School Gallery, Baltimore, MD.
This story was featured in the December 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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