Artist Profile: Denis Gaston - Pinellas County Cultural Affairs Interview

Here is a studio interview from a few years ago. I just now learned how to convert it to YouTube.

Faces At An Exhibition

Here is a group portrait of a just finished project that has taken a big chunk of the last six months. Most of these mixed-media works were painted with a palette knife on 9" by 9" prepared masonite.

Working quickly in a small format challenged me to concentrate on the essential gestures. Several 4' by 5' blank canvasses now lean against my studio wall waiting for the next challenge.

The Great White Hunter

Today I finished the last painting of a portrait series I’ve been working on for six months. The nine mostly mixed-media pieces on masonite comprise a group of iconic figures that sprang from the imagination.

With no apparent antecedents in the world out here, they function more like emotional signposts – states of mind with which to become acquainted.

Working in a rapid wet on wet method with a palette knife gave me the opportunity to quickly capture fleeting images. I’ve just now reached the point of feeling comfortable with this gestural painting style – comfortable as I can be in a nine by nine inch format. Four by six foot canvasses lean against my studio wall, an all too obvious next challenge.

Little Boxes

It is not necessary to work eight hours a day seven days a week to create a body of art. All that is required is a willingness to somehow get the job done. Painting sixty minutes a day over a year's time will give many hours in the studio.

The writer Elmore Leonard got up at 5:00 am and wrote for two hours before going to work at an ad agency. He did it for ten years and turned out five books and 30 short stories.

My ad agency days are thankfully behind me and I've found arising in the dark unappealing. The best I can muster is staring out the window at daybreak, nursing a cup of darjeeling.

But working here and there over time, I've amassed a sizeable body of new paintings and drawings. Above is a mixed-media painting on masonite called Little Boxes.

Mixing Up Some Media

While waiting for new studio space to open, I labor in the confines of a small apartment turned atelier. My dining table doubles as a drawing board, the tea table a framing station. As my focus narrowed, large works got shoved under the bed and I once more made friends with #0 brushes.

For the Cool Art Show in St. Petersburg next month, I will have many five by seven inch drawings. Nine inches by nine inches is now a large work and that is the size of Bell-Hop at the Sands Hotel (above) - an example of mixing some media on masonite.

Florida Artist Group Exhibition

Florida Artist Group (FLAG), the oldest statewide organization of professional artists, is holding its annual symposium and exhibition at the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art in Tarpon Springs.

The exhibition runs through July 18, and demonstrates the variety and excellence of artists living in Florida. I am pleased to have this mixed-media painting, Artemis, included in the show.

Works on Paper

"Bird of Heaven," pastel on paper, 40"h. x 30"w. framed size, 33"h. x 24"w. image size, $700.00 plus tax, shipping. SOLD

This mixed media work-on-paper is part of a group that I rescued from the horrific Imago Studio fire last December. After conserving and, in some cases, elaborating on the pieces, the art was archivally framed and placed under uv glass. These are the last works of their kind from the years 1988-2007, and will be offered for purchase at a considerable saving. PayPal is also available. Please contact me at mrcoolink@ij.net

More art available for purchase can be seen at my web gallery, Denis Gaston Art