Artist of the Month October 2012

Derrick Breidenthal

Kansas City, MO

How and when did you start creating art?

I guess the earliest memory I have was a fascination with ball point pens. Six or Seven maybe? I would just draw hundreds of circles, lines, whatever of basically nothing just to see how much ink I could get on the paper. I never really thought I was creating anything, or "drawing". But I guess looking back it was a start of something. Then I began drawing things and moving watercolor around still fairly young. Fourth grade I guess. Mostly at school. I had some friends that enjoyed drawing also. I remember spending time drawing with them early on. I just kept doing it at school, after school etc. Later I spent once a week with 10 or 15 kids in an art teachers basement making "work" after school. Mrs. Carter. She was great but strict. I think that moved me along enough that I decided to keep at it during High School and so on.

What media and genres do you work in?

I have painted with oil on panel for years. I have een working more on paper with graphite, ink and watercolor over the past year but still work with oil weekly.

Who or what are your influences?

I am usually attracted to other artists work (at least initially) by their use of color. That's the first thing that catches my eye or doesn't. It matters less to me if its representation, abstract, political etc. It needs to catch my eye and have some stopping power. For me many times that is color. I would say I am influenced in general by color first, then content and then everything else. Be it in my studio, nature, or work I see. Rural space and surroundings are a big influence in my work. I like Lucian Freud, Gerhard Richter, Andrew Wyeth off the top of my head.

See above :) Ice Camp is influenced by ice camps / structures people form in the winter. On ice. The small communities, some temporary and some inhabit for an extended period of time. Like fishing huts, ice racing etc. The colors and activity interest me. Especially from a distance It's foggy or usually lots of grays and whites. Then there are small pops of colors on the horizon. A red truck, a group of people, small areas of color density among nothing. Unusual activity in the distance always interest me. Things you can't quite explain from a distance.

Describe your creative process?

Sometimes it moves quickly, other times not so quick. Most of my oil paintings come fairly naturally at this point. The drawings I have been working on not so much. But the drawings are new - and new always takes a bit of wandering around. That is the fun period. When you start to repeatedly fumble that can become a real pain. I have photographed so much color and various compositions of land that I usually just see a color, a photo or have a memory of a particular place and this is enough to start to put paint on the surface. Some work adheres closely to the original spark, others do not. The hand and the brain working together can start to create some rather different work than an artist had originally intended. I try to accept that aspect of the process. Sometimes my hand moves the work right into the trash. But its great when it works and exceeds what I had originally wanted to do. A kid like surprise is still what I love to experience at some point in my process. I try to move on if I loose interest, and set the work aside for a few months.

What are you working on currently?

Drawings/watercolors on paper. Isolated objects on large empty backgrounds. The reverse of my paintings in some ways, but the content and interest in natural space is still very present. And more oil paintings.

What are your near/long term goals as an artist?

Sustainability.

Where can people view/purchase your work (gallery, website, etc)?

My work can be viewed on my website: http://www.breidenthalart.com or through representation of my art: Dean Day Gallery, Houston / Leopold Gallery, Kansas City / Moberg Gallery Des Moines and Chicago