Erik Neelsen a self taught artist who began drawing/painting late in life, at around age 40. Since then, he has involved himself more in painting and in 2014 he decided to create his blog to display his work. He paints in acrylic using vibrant colors with geometric shapes to convey his vision. He tries to show movement and dynamism in each painting. In his blog section, he has documented through video how each painting was created. Some of his work:
Neelsen-1 |
Neelsen-2 |
Neelsen-3 |
Neelsen-5 |
Neelsen-6 |
Heylos had a chance to interview such an amazing talented person
and know his thoughts on Art and life.
How is art important in people’s lives?
In terms of importance, I
believe that art is an extension of our existence. It records and defines our
purpose and will. From architecture to music, the artistic side of us
comes out many times over. If you think about it, what is imagination
without the arts to define and give life to new concepts? To me, to be human is
to be artistic.
Do you have a favorite artist? Why do you like him/her?
My favorite artist would have to be Caravaggio. He was not only
an amazing master painter with light and depth, but also a fiery character that
had no fear in painting his vision of Biblical scenes, which, at the
time was bold. Although a violent man (which may have been from lead
poisoning), his works including "The Taking of Christ", "David
and Goliath", and "Conversion of Saint Paul" and many others
eventually overcame his criminal infamy.
What's your favorite place to see art?
I generally view artwork online and where I find myself to
be at the moment. For example, on vacation this year, I had the opportunity to
visit the Vatican Museum. But you can find art in many places from hospitals to
doctor offices. But I will take time in the future to visit local galleries.
Do you own any pieces of art? If so, what are they?
I only own a couple of home décor pieces. The rest are my own
drawings or paintings.
What’s your favorite piece of work that you have created?
I suppose my favorite piece would be one I recently
sold, Neelsen 4 because it marked a change to
start making my own canvases, painting larger, and recording the
production from frame assembly to the finished piece.
Neelsen-4 |
What are you working on at the moment?
I've completed sketches for my next three paintings. I'm
busier in the summer with my family, but when school is back in session, I'll
have time to complete Neelsen 7, 8, and 9 hopefully by October. I'll continue
to make videos of the production of each piece.
Do you sell your work? If so where all do you sell your work?
I sell my artwork through Saatchi online at saatchiart.com/eneelsen.
Do you make a living off your art?
I don't work as a full time artist. However, if I become
more productive and sales increase, I may consider it in the future.
Do you think your country’s government gives enough financial
support to local artists?
I don't have a great deal of knowledge of how much the
government supports local artists. But living here in the USA, other than
commissioned public artworks, it seems that whenever I hear support being
announced for local artists, mostly private entities are funding the
projects.
Do you support local artists? If yes, how?
I donate to the Arts and Science Council and follow a few
artists from my area on Twitter. I'll RT their new works or events.
What are you doing when you’re not creating?
I enjoy taking my sons to go run, swim or play soccer.
Staying active is important to me. I'm also writing a science fiction
screenplay that I hope to complete by October.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I was a Marine stationed in Quantico, Virginia. I was
trained to work on various helicopters and was assigned to Marine
Helicopter Squadron One (which provides transport for the President and other
executives) for nearly three years.
Technically, what would you consider to be a piece of art, Why?
This is an interesting question. You can find art in nature and
could justifiably call, for example The Grand Canyon a "workof
art" that was created by water and wind. But to me, a more definitive
description of "a piece of art" is when we
intentionally set out to make a physical depiction of either what our senses
are telling us at the moment or from our own
imagination. Whether we are painting a portrait, or inventing the light
bulb, we leave an intentional physical trace of our perception or imagination.
And originality is what really sets one piece of art from another. So
intention and originality are what in my view defines a piece of art.
Do you have any tips or inspiring words for others?
I haven't been painting seriously for that long, but what I can
truthfully say is to not worry about what others may think when you create
something. For whatever reason, fear can be strongly associated with
creating or doing something new- for you and others around you. Calm that
fear with letting your friends and family be involved as
well. And work consistently. It's really the only way to see
results.
Where else can we find you?
I'm at Twitter @ErikNeelsen, Google plus, and have a
website at erikneelsen.com. I also have a YouTube
channel under my name.
Can you give more insight about you and your work?
When creating artwork, I'm trying to capture, first on sketches,
images that come to my mind. These images may come to me at anytime, so I'll
sometimes just sporadically grab a piece of paper and sketch something out. I
have a lot of these sketches but only painted six of them so far. I don't title
my paintings other than using my name and a chronological order. I do this
so that I don't impose any preconceived tone to the viewer. However,
I do compose music for enhancement of the videos that may project
some of my own impression for the perspective painting. My personal aim is
to improve my skills as a painter and become more productive. I also will
continue to document each painting by video and hopefully improve
that process as well.
Have u displayed your works in gallery/art fest?
I don't think I've created enough paintings to apply
to an exhibition or physical gallery yet. When I reach a point to where I
feel confident to apply, I will look locally to do so. But I do use
Twitter, Saatchi online, and my website to display my artwork.
No comments:
Post a Comment