Artists Statement
&
Background
“Art is born of the observation and investigation
of nature”.
Those words were written a little over two thousand
years ago by the Roman author, orator, & politician, Cicero. To me that
short sentence speaks volumes. By the time I was 14 years old I had no doubt that art
was the vehicle through which I would study the natural world. Two interesting discoveries were made while
undertaking that study. The act of focused observation gains one insight into
the outer structure of things which in turn makes it possible to draw and
paint believable representations
of them and second, with the mastery of craft comes freedom, the
freedom to explore ones inner world, the world of imagination. When these come
together the results are a melding of ones personal impression and our shared
visual view of the world. It is my goal to avoid making art that leaves
the observer visually clueless or doubting of their own inherent ability to
see the artistry in what they observe and investigate.
Background:
My father was an
artist and I grew up always believing that I was one as well. With the help of
books, practice and my father, I learned the way of the craftsman artist.
Some might define this as "self taught" but that is a little
misleading, I
did not reinvent or learn anything in isolation, I read, or listened, to
what the skilled
and talented had to say or demonstrate, and then I practiced that until I began to make their
understanding my understanding.
In my early twenties I
began my career as an Illustrator. Artists like Normal Rockwell, Frank Frazetta and Zdenek
Burian featured highly in my mind, as did fine
artists like Rembrandt, Claude Lorrain, Frederick Church, Thomas Cole, Jean Léon
Gérôme, and a host of others to numerous to list here. From
Illustrator to Art Director and then to portrait artist, it had always been my
desire to explore this world with the best examples of what art is able
to achieve. That is my journey and in this web site you the viewer will
be able to judge with your own sensibilities as to whether my explorations
here helped or hindered your interest and enjoyment of our shared visual
experience.
Robert Isler Wanka