Gene Brack, Iowa
Member Since August 2009
Artist Statement I paint because I love it. Abstract art allows for strong pre-planned compositions as well as the spontaneous. Painting for me is the completion of a lot of years spent dabbling into various art forms. These included acting, set design, mime, dance, writing, directing, etc. My love for modern architecture and interior design runs free in the evolution of each new painting. It allows me to be impulsive and improvise instinctively. I love the reaction from people who come through a gallery when I’m there. Their fulfillment in seeing color and textures that excite the senses, likewise excite my sense of purpose and completion.
Most of my adult life I have had to be exact with words in career choices. Both, the vocations in ministry and education, have left little room for unconstrained work. I chose oil paints over other mediums because it feels more organic. It flows, has a life of its own and offers numerous possibilities. Painting with the knife is totally liberating. It moves fast if I’m invigorated with a complete idea, yet it is generous when contemplative direction slowly energizes my creative juices. Brush or knife, the process engulfs me.
My current works are more imaginative. I push myself beyond expected and safe geometric/architecture compositions and reach for results that are more impressionistic. Some are based loosely on favorite childhood stories, some from years of doodling! The challenge is always to produce work that will thrill an art lover. Bottom line for me is:
“If I would hang a work in my house, I believe others would do likewise.” Current and past work seem to center around heavy textures and earth tones on the edge of bright! I love large canvases but explore the smaller ones just for the challenge.
My other challenges have to do with both my age and my training. Having started this new venture at 60 years young, I want to work continuously to catch up with what might have been. Secondly, I have to educate myself by studying works that I admire and talking with other artists as well as taking classes whenever possible. I’m aggressively working to find my limits and broaden my work within them.
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