2021 Artist Statement
In 2021 I retired for almost two years. Most of that time was during the pandemic.
My oldest son, Jason, and his fiancee drove my van to California and then to Col orado. I met them there and she flew home. We took the van to North Dakota through Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota, then east to New York City.
Our first stop was Laramie. where we sleep in front of 10-12 train tracks. It was glorious to hear those giant engines rolling down the track during all hours of the day and night.
Then we went to Veedauwoo. I have been there a few times. I love this location for its accessibility and scale. It’s not too big and has all of the elements I look for when drawing, color, scale, mythology, and dynamic elements. I made a vector painting and with the help of a friend of mine on Facebook from Japan he added a poem to the piece, It is called Imagine.
Nebraska we saw Scott’s Bluff and what seemed to be 1,000 miles of grasslands. Not a single tree in sight. South Dakotah was more of the same except Scot’s Bluff. We also stumbled upon a Mammoth archeological dig. They turned it into a muse um by putting a roof over it and were continuing to extract the Mammoths. It was exciting to watch so we made drawings. Just by luck, I got a great image of a guy using a tiny tool to extract the giants.
After we drove to the Franklin Roosevelt National Park where we saw the bad lands. An area where it would be impossible for covered wagons to pass. Nearby we saw the Painted Rocks. An area where the rock formations of horizontal colors change depending n the light. I was inspired to make a major piece of art there I called, American Dreamer. It represents many years of practice and a touch of luck.
Somehow, we touched upon the idea of the white buffalo while studying the in digenous people. The White Buffalo relates to the Locota nation creation story. That’s what inspired this piece combined with a famous painting I have seen called The Dreamer, by Henri Rousseau.
When we got to Chicago we got to see live music three nights in a row. It was fan tastic! Three different styles. I made lots of drawings. When I got back I was asked to do the album cover for Jorge Garcia. I loved the challenge and was happy to do something for Jorge. I told him I needed to listen to music live. I needed to see and hear them playing. He got booked at a local club and I got my chance. That is when he told me he is calling the album Dedicated to You, meaning Jesus. I used that as my drawing queue and made a modern Jesus opening Jorge’s mind and inspiring him to make music. Then I drew his band members in various states. The final piece is exciting and innovative.
Back on the trip we went all the way to New York City for the Fourth of July and met up with our family. It was a special time together at an AirBNB in Brooklynn. It was here that we switched again and Jason left as Carly stepped on. I took her to Arcadia National Park in Maine. We did a lot of biking and drawing. I recall sitting on a boulder at Sand Beach. It is strewn with boulders, a fitting border for the Unit ed States. It was there I made two thoughtful drawings using watercolor pencils. I’m very pleased with them. About a week later Carly was dropped in Rhode Island and I went back to Niagra Falls.
I like to imagine what things look like before I see them. What color do you think the falls are? most people would say blue. What color do you think the river is be fore dropping into the falls? Most people would again say blue. the river is brown or Black and the falls are white. I studied them and did some drawing. The amount of water pouring over those falls is profound. But. for the sake of my drawing it was the mist that captured my imagination. I have been studying Japanese art for a while and they like to style objects. I did the same with the mist. then I took an elevator to the bottom of the falls and did some more drawing. It was there that the mist took shape and I saw what I thought was an epiphany, I saw the head of a White Buffa lo. I saw that the falls themselves are the white buffalo and the water the lifegiving force that the Indians spoke about in their creation story. It was a pleasing idea that I will continue to refine.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my bug drawings. Like a dancer warms up before dancing I like to do small projects that push my skills forward. I centered my attention on bugs many years ago for these quick sketches. You will see the collec tion has grown and continue to grow. Each one tells its own little story.
Stephen Shooster aka Shoosty
5
BUTTERMILK FALLS
PARK
STATE PARK
OF
NEW YORK
6 BUTTERMILK FALLS
STATE
811-ACRE
SOUTHWEST
ITHACA,
Landscapes
7VEEDAUWOO BOULDERS AQUABOARD AND INKTENSE PENCILS STEPHEN SHOOSTER AKA SHOOSTY AT VEEDAUWOO (EARTH-BORN), WYOMING
Imagine
There will be colors.
The colors will disappear.
In a dream that sleeps between Heaven and Earth.
8 IMAGINE
Painting: Shoosty Poem Tohru Ishizuka
10 OLD MAN SNOWY RANGE, 12,013 FT. ELEVATION MEDICINE BOW NATIONAL FOREST SOUTHEAST WYOMING
11 WATERCOLOR AND METALIC INKS ON 300 LBS COLD PRESSED WATERCOLOR PAPER SCOTT’S BLUFF
30-40 MPH WIND WHILE DRAWING
THEODORE
ROOSEVELT NAT’L PARK NORTH UNIT
13SYLVAN LAKE CUSTER NATIONAL PARK
14 GOOSEBERRY FALLS JUNE 18TH, 2021 GOOSEBERRY STATE PARK, MINNESOTA
15 CATSKILLS PARK
16 SAND BEACH 1
ARCADIA
NATIONAL PARK, MAINE
17SAND BEACH 2 ARCADIA NATIONAL PARK, MAINE
THE SURPRISING THING ABOUT SEE ING NIAGRA FALLS THE FIRST TIME WAS THAT MY IDEALIZED MENTAL VER SION WAS AGAIN NOTHING LIKE REAL ITY. I EXPECTED BLUE WATER. WHAT I SAW WAS WHITE WATER AND A DARK BROWN RIVER. WHAT CAPTURED MY IMAGINATION IS VERY HARD TO DRAW; THE MIST. THE MIST WAS EVERYWHERE IN LARGE MASSES ABOVE AND BELOW THE FALLS. I TOOK AN ELEVATOR RIDE 18 FLOORS DOWN THROUGH THE ROCK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE FALLS. THERE YOU GET TO WALK ON A RICKETY WOODEN PLATFORM IN SANDALS AND A RAINCOAT WHILE GETTING WET FROM THE FALLS. A SMALL SECTION OF THE PLATFORM IS DIRECTLY IN THE PATH OF THE WATERFALL. I STOOD THERE FEEL ING THE POWER OF THE WATER RUSH
ING OVER MY COLD FEET. LUCKILY IT WAS A WARM DAY. I STARTED DRAW ING, STUDYING THE WHITE WATER, THE SLIPPERY-SOAKED BOULDERS, AND THE MIST. WHILE DRAWING I THOUGHT ABOUT JAPANESE WOODBLOCKS AND HOW THEY USE STYLIZATION TO REP RESENT WATER. WITHOUT REALIZING IT THE MIST STARTED TO LOOK LIKE HORNS, AND THE FALLS LOOKS LIKE DREADLOCKS. AN EPIPHANY FORMED IN FRONT OF MY EYES, I WAS DRAW ING THE WHITE BUFFALO BIGGER THAN LIFE! NIAGRA FALLS “IS” THE WHITE BUFFALO.
PERHAPS THE CREATION STORY OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN USING THE WHITE BUFFALO AS THE GIVER OF LIFE IS AN ALLEGORY FOR NIGRA FALLS.
18
19WHITE BUFFALO NIAGRA FALLS, NEW YORK
JUST SOUTH OF GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA, IS A WATER SOAKED AREA CALLED PAYNE’S PRAIRE. IT WAS NAMED AFTER THE SON OF A SEMINOLE INDIAN. VECTOR ART
20 PAYNES PRAIRE
BASED ON SOLICE V RARITAN, 2013 OIL ON LINEN PENNSYLVANIA IMPRESSIONISM PAINTING BY BARBARA POSTEL (1938-2018) TRIBUTE TO BARBARA POSTEL VECTOR ART
CANAL
21ERIE
CLARENCE SPADY RAHBO SAAB A.J.JUMP NATE ZAUR Music
23 T-SHIRT SAYING: CAMPING NATURES WAY OF FEEDING MOSQUITOES IRON RIVER, MICHIGAN CLARENCE SPADEY BAND
24
THE GREEM MILL BAR IN CHICAGO IS A CASH ONLY BAR THAT HARKENS BACK TO THE TIMES OFHTE GANG STERS. IT EVEN HAD A BACKDOOR ESCAPE JUST IN CASE THEY NEEDED IT.
WE SAW THE SOUL MESSAGE BAND THERE. THE KEYBOARD PLAYER IS BLIND. IT WAS THE GUITAR PLAYERS BIRTHDAY.
THE GREEN MILL, CHICAGO SOUL MESSAGE BAND
SOUL MESSAGE BAND
AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE IN CHI CAGO, WE SAW ISAIAH COLLIER & THE CHOOSEN FEW. THIS IS A PROGRESSIVE JAZZ BAND THAT PLAYS EXTREMELY FAST MUSIC. FEW PLAYERS WOULD EVEN WANT TO KEEP UP WITH THIS PACE.
26 COSMIC TRANSITIONS 2
27COSMIC TRANSITIONS 1
28 COSMIC TRANSITIONS
IN THE BACK OF A SMALL BAR CALLED BARBES RECORDS IN CHICAGO WE SAW THE SLAVIC SOUL PARTY BAND PERFORM. THE SPACE WAS WA YTOO SMALL AND CROWDED WITH STANDING ROOM ONLY. I GOT THESE QUICK SKETCHES THAT TURNED INTO FACINATING POSTERS.
29 SLAVIC SOUL PARTY
WHEN I CAN’T FEEL OUT THE LOCATION AND THE BAND TO DO A DRAWING, ESPECIALLY SINCE I WAS BLOCKED BY SOMEONE IN THE CROWD I JUST LET THE MUSIC PAINT A TAPES TRY IN MY MIND. HERE IS WHAT COMES OUT.
BLUES COUNTRY,
ERIC JACOBSON QUINTET IS FROM MILWAUKEE, WISCON SIN, WHERE ONE OF MY FAVORITE JAZZ CLUBS IS, THE JAZZ ESTATE. ERIC TEACHES NEARBY THAT CLUB AND PLAYS THERE OFTEN. I MAY HAVE MET HIM OR EVEN MADE A DRAWING OF HIM IN THE PAST. HIS MUSIC IS SOLID. THE SET WAS BASED ON HORACE SILVER.
30 WINTER’S JAZZ CLUB SKETCH 2 PEN AND INK 12” X 12” A BLUES TAPESTRY
CHICAGO PEN AND INK 12” X 12”
WINTER’S JAZZ CLUB THE ERIC JACOBSON QUINTET PLAYING THE MUSIC OF HORACE SILVER. SOPHISTICATED HIPPY, CHICAGO 2021 WINTER’S JAZZ CLUB PEN AND INK 12” X 12”
32
THE KIDS BAND
33 FORT LAUDERDALE
CULTURE ROOM THE KIDS BAND 1 JOSH DIAZ AND THE KIDS BAND FORT LAUDERDALE THE KIDS BAND CULTURE ROOM HANDS DOWN, I LOVE THIS BAND! THE BAND WRITES AND PERFORMS THEIR OWN MUSIC.
JORGE GARCIA WAS INSPIRED BY JESUS FOR HIS LATEST AL BUM, DEDICATED TO YOU. HERE HE IS WITH HIS SKULL OPENED ACCEPTING THE INSPIRATION. THIS PIECE WAS COMPLETED FROM A LIVE DRAWING DURING ONE OF HIS MUSIC SESSIONS.
JESUS PASSING JORGE GARCIA INSPIRATION
34
35
36
JORGE
GARICA - DEDICATED TO YOU
38 CRUSADER DRUMMERFLOWER POT HEAD
39SAX UMBILICLE CHORD
40 CRAZY FINGERS
A GRATEFUL DEAD TRIBUTE BAND
41CRAZY FINGERS KEYS
Architecture
TOYING WITH ARCHITECTUAL INTERIORS AND STRONG ART DECO INFLUENCE THE ARTIST CREATED PAINTINGS OF BOTH OF HIS DAUGHTERS AND A HORSE HE MET AT A OVERNIGHT CAMPING PARK.
BUILDING DESIGN BY IM PEI BUILDING LOBBY CONCEPT
42
43CARSON IN VINO VERITAS IN WINE TRUTH CARLY ELLIOT
44 CONCEPTUAL CITY CHICAGO WATERFRONT
A VECTOR PAINTING OF A MUCH EARLIER PIECE CREATED IN 1985
A VECTOR PAINTING OF THE CHICAGO WATERFRONT
TRIBUTES TO PABLO ATCHUGARRY
ERTÉ A RUSSIAN-FRENCH ARTIST FAMOUS FOR OPERA SETS INSPIRED SHOOSTY TO MAKE AN INTEGRATED COPY OF ERTE’S ORIGINAL WORK. ON THE RIGHT, THE ORANGE CLAD FIGURE IS BY ERTE. ON THE LEFT IS THE MATCHING FIGURE BY SHOOSTY.
46 ERTE AND SHOOSTY
Study
SEEK BEAUTY IN EVERYTHING EVERYTHING IN BEAUTY SEEK ART NOUVEAU REPRODUCTION WITH ADVANCED VECTOR TECHNOLOGY.
BEAUTY STUDY
47PEACOCKS - SEEK
INDIAN
WAR HAMMER
INDIGENOUS AMERICAN
50 THE MAMMOTH HUNTER Major Works
HOT SPRINGS, SOUTH DAKOTAH HAS A MUSEUM DEDICATED TO THE ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVER OF A HERD OF MAMMOTHS THAT DIED HERE. THEY PUT A ROOF OVER THE SITE AND MADE IT INTO A WORKING ARCHEOLOGICAL CENTER AND MUSEUM.
51
52
THE SLEEPING GYPSY BY HENRI ROUSSEU
AMERICAN DREAMER CONCEPT AMERICAN DREAMER SKETCH
PAINTED CANYON
VISITOR CENTER, BADLANDS, BELFIELD, NORTH DAKOTA
COW SKULL
CREATE JUST OUTSIDE OF THE FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK AT THE PAINTED CANYON OVERLOOK, I WAS INSPIRED TO MAKE A MAJOR PIECE OF ART CALLED, AMERICAN DREAMER. THIS PIECE REPRESENTS MANY YEARS OF PRACTICE AND A TOUCH OF LUCK. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT INTO A LARGE PAINTING.
EARLIER I WAS LEARNING ABOUT THE WHITE BUFFALO AND HOW IT RELATES TO THE THE LOCOTA NATION CREATION STORY.
THIS PIECE WAS INSPIRED BY THE DREAMER, BY HENRI ROUSSEAU, AND THE WHITE BUFFALO.
53AMERICAN DREAMER
54 INDIGENOUS AMERICANS
55TATANKA JAM
TATANKA
MEANS BUFFALO
56 CIRCUS POSTER ART The Circus
57ELEPHANT WITH SIGN
58 LIONS
59TIGER
CIRCUS SHOWMAN
61
62 THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
