I am an American born in 1957. I paint images in oils, watercolors and sumi inks. I attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohio 1980, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Lithography. My artistic influences include Rene' Magritte, Odilon Redon, Max Ernst, Salvador Dali and Charles Burchfield. I take my inspiration from many things, not least of which is the written word. Authors such as Neil Gaiman and Jorge Luis Borges put me in a mindset to create images of a world that exists just behind the veil of what we perceive as our reality. World mythology is also a rich source of my inspiration with its tales of fantastic creatures and heroic deeds.
I paint in the traditional manner, with underpaintings and color glazes. I blend realistic settings with the unusual and unexpected like the flash memory of a dream or a place once visited but forgotten. My latest works are smaller in size which has enabled me to explore more images from my mind. To me, surrealism is more than just a series of random items. I want to arouse the imagination and stir something in viewers, even if they don't know it.
I work daily in my studio with Sherlock, an African Grey parrot, at my side. I play the electric bass (jazz & fusion & funk) and am a comic book reader and collector. I studied the martial art of Goshin Ju Jutsu, achieving the rank of San Dan, third degree black belt. I reside at Stavec Park in Walton Hills, Ohio with my wife, Stephanie and lots of critters.
Contact: stavecparkstudio@earthlink.net
