2017 ARTIST STATEMENT
On Sept. 10th, 2017, Hurricane Irma barrel through my region of South Florida. We were all hunkered down at the office where we have generators and hurricane protection. I needed to keep the company working, so not only was my family there but all of our employees and their families, too. We had well over 300 people in two buildings. I was nervous with a lot of responsibility. Hurricanes are serious, but we turn them into parties. As the storm was on top of us we played some music and I made a drawing. I must have been watching TV or something cause the storm ended up in my drawing.
Most of the art I did in 2017 was related to music. Those piec es can easily speak for themselves. Notably, I invented a term to describe my live drawing style. I call it ‘Frenetic Drawing,’ the act of drawing rapidly while listening to loud music on a live stage. You will discover some great examples of this on the following pages.
I love painting. Anytime I can paint I am happy. I was at a convention in Las Vegas when I was offered to go painting for an afternoon in the desert. The offer came from an old friend from elementary school who I was able to keep in touch with using Facebook. He had no clue that I was a painter. I hadn’t seen him in over 40 years. It was great to catch up. I met him at his house and he showed me some of the Americana paintings he completed and also some wood he was curing for frames. That wood inspired me. It had an unfinished live edge complete with bark. When I got to the location to start painting I made an oil painting to match that wood, called Bonnie Springs. I’m not sure how I got it home cause it was wet, but when it dried I framed it using live-edge wood.
I took a class in Encaustic Painting in Boulder, Colorado. Encaustic means painting with wax. It is not easy to paint with wax and even harder to get sharp lines and shapes. In preparation, I did some research and discovered a way to use my laser printer to make line drawings that could be transferred to the wax. I printed the drawings in reverse and then dropped the paper on the hot wet wax. The fibers of the paper merged with the wax. Once it solidified, I used water to rub the pulp off leaving just the part I printed. It was easy and worked out great.
I got involved with The Plein-Air Club of Palm Beach. Plein-Air means to paint outdoors. The Plein-Air Magazine is produced near my home in Boca Raton. Florida is perfect for outside adventures as long as you drink lots of water and dress for the sun and heat. I stumbled upon something I call, ‘Highway Mountains’ and did a few modern landscapes. They are fascinating to me, visually showing speed. I did them using my Ipad Pro and Ipencil. Plein-Air traditionalists will not allow pieces like this to be called Plein-Air. I believe they are wrong and just don’t know how to use the tools.
STEPHEN SHOOSTER AKA SHOOSTY 2017
I also did a Plein-Air Painting of a home in a historic area of Boca Raton called, Old Floresta. The piece came out ok, but I wasn’t satisfied. I went home and painted directly over it alter ing the concept into something I thought to be more pleasing. I turned the landscape into a circuit board. You are not allowed to do postwork on a Plein-Air Painting. Again I think they are wrong. I equate it to Bob Dylan playing electric guitar at the Newport Jazz Festival it was both outrageous and genius. We should be encouraging people, especially young people, to be creative and use whatever tools they prefer as long as they put their heart and soul into the result. I guess the bigger challenges come when a person takes a simple photo with their mobile phone and uses an app to make a 2-second adjustment and then calls it a Plein Air painting.
MUSIC
French Horn
Black and Creme
Jorge Garcia and George Tandy - Tavolino’s
George Tandy Band
George Tandy with Beard at Tavolino’s
James Anderson
Jorge Garcia
The Yearning
Kayla Frey
Katrina Rose Tandy
Jazzy’s Hideaway
Man Machine Poem
Wooden Upright
Bass Player
Mario Smith
Hurricane Irma
Josh Goodman - with Guitar
Calli Daniels - Drummer
Cassidy Shooster - with Guitar
Katrina Rose - Singer
Orin - Bass Player
Richard Tandy - Electro Magician
Dizzywind
Drummer Girl
Anastasia and Max Noir
Black and Creme - Funky Buddah - Noir
Black and Creme - Noir
The Ogden Theater in Denver
Caravan Palace 1
Caravan Palace 2
Caravan Palace 3
In The Light
PLEIN-AIR
Bonnie Springs
Keith Nobel
Bonnie Springs Tourist Train
The Engineer of Happiness
PORTRAITS
Cassidy Shooster
Cassidy Shooster - Pondering
Cassidy Shooster - The Singer
Deerfield Inlet
Diane’s Party
Baruch Shuster
LANDSCAPES
Boulder River
Boulder Colorado Landscape
Boulder ’s Boulders
Swamp
College of Art
Highway 1
Highway 2
Old Floresta
Fairy Houses
ROBOTICS
Machines Building Humans
INDIAN INFLUENCE
NW Indian Sketch
JAPANESE INSPIRED
Knight Detail
Samurai Detail
Samurai Detail
Samurai Detail
INSPIRED
Century Illustrated Manuscript
Bagpiping Gargoyal
Tangled Figures
Catalog Catalog
Stephen Shooster aka Shoosty
Publishing. All Rights Reserved
South State Road 7, Suite 11
Florida 33068
I MET KEVIN GORE IN A SNUG (A SMALL BAR) IN EDINBURGH. HE IS A FOLK SINGER THAT IS FOCUSED ON POLITICS. I TOLD HIM I LOVE IRISH REVOLUTIONARY FOK MUSIC. HE STRAIGHTENED ME OUT SAYING, WHAT YOU ARE REFERRING TO IS CELTIC REVOLUTION ARY FOLK MUSIC. THAT IS WHAT KEVIN PLAYS. I MET HIM DURING THE REFERENDUM FOR THE UK TO LEAVE THE EU. BEING FROM SCOTLAND HE IS AGAINST LEAVING THE EU.
I DID A FEW DRAWINGS AND OFFERED TO HELP HIM TO MAKE THE ALBUM COVER FOR HIS LATEST ALBUM, THE YEARNING.
I CENTERED MY ATTENTION ON THE STATE FLOWER, THE THISTLE, AND THE COLORS OF THE HIGHLANDS IN THE SUMMERTIME. THEN I SUPERIMPOSED HIS GUITAR ON THAT TO TURN THE PIECE INTO SOMETHING MUSICAL. IT’S LOOSE BUT HAS A SOLID COMPOSITION.
SCULPTURE WITH LIGHTED WIRE. ART INSTALLATION, GLOBAL RESPONSE. TRIBUTE TO GORD DOWNIE OF THE BAND TRAGICALLY HIP
Anastasia and Max Noir
CATAGORIES NOIR IPAD PRO MUSIC
Black and Creme - Noir
The Ogden Theater in Denver
FRENETIC DRAWING
USING THE FRANTIC PACED MUSIC OF AN ELECTRO GYPSY JAZZ BAND THE ART IST DREW THE MUSCIANS AS FAST AS THE RYTHEM. THESE DRAWINGS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN CREATED IN A QUITE ROOM. IT WAS THE MUSIC PROCESSED THROUGH THE HAND OF AN ARTIST THAT CREATED THE DRAWINGS.
CARAVAN PALACE PLAYED WED., JULY 12, 8 P.M. 2017, AT THE OGDEN THEATER IN CENTRAL DENVER. THE ENERGY OF THIS BAND IS OFF THE CHARTS. SHOOSTER BROUGHT HIS DRAWING PAD AND LET IT HIS HAND LOOSE AT THE SPEED OF THEIR SOUND. WHAT RESULTED WAS 3 INTENSE DRAWINGS. LATER HE SEPARATED THE SHAPES IN SEPARATE DRAWINGS. UPON ASKING HIM HE SAID YOU COULD NEV ER MAKE DRAWINGS LIKE THIS IN A QUIET ROOM. IT REQUIRES THE SOUND AND THE ENERGY OF THE CROWD.
CARAVAN PALACE IS RETURNING TO DENVER WITH ITS TWIST ON ELEC TRO-SWING, A GENRE THAT HAS BEEN CATCHING FIRE IN BOTH U.S. AND EURO PEAN NIGHTLIFE OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS. THIS FRENCH BAND WAS FORMED OUT OF A PASSION FOR ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND IS INFLUENCED BY MUSICIANS SUCH AS DAFT PUNK AND DJANGO REINHARDT. THE FOUNDING TRIO OF ARNAUD VIAL, CHARLES DELAPORTE AND HUGHES PAYEN HAD A LIKING FOR SWING, ES PECIALLY GYPSY JAZZ, AND THEN DECIDED TO START PLAYING THE GENRE’S TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS: GUITAR, DOUBLE BASS AND VIOLIN. THESE MUSI CIANS CONTINUE TO FIND WAYS TO DELVE DEEPER INTO THE GENRE, INCORPO RATING ELEMENTS OF WHAT THEY DISCOVER INTO THEIR NEW SONGS. THEIR LATEST ALBUM, ROBOT FACE, WAS RELEASED IN 2015. - RILEY COWING
I GREW UP IN WOODCREST A SUBDIVISION OF CHERRY HILL, NEW JERSEY. KEITH NOBEL IS ONE OF MY FRIENDS FROM ELEMENTRY SCHOOL. WE LOST TOUCH. FACEBOOK RECONNECTED US. WHEN I WENT TO A TRADESHOW IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA HE REACHED OUT TO ME AND ASKED IF I WOULD LIKE TO GO PAINTING. I DON’T THINK HE KNEW THAT PAINTING AND DRAWING ARE MY FAVORITE THINGS TO DO. HE TOOK ME INTO THE DESERT TO A PLACE CALLED BONNIE SPRINGS. BEFORE WE LEFT HE SHOWED ME HIS OWN ART AND A FEW FRAMES HE WAS PLANNING ON USING. I WAS EXTRA INTERESTED IN THE LIVE WOOD FRAMES MADE FROM LOCAL WOOD. WHEN IT WAS TIME TO PAINT I GOT HE IDEA TO MAKE SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE THOSE FRAMES STAND OUT.
Cassidy Shooster - The Singer
ENCAUSTIC PAINTINGS
ENCAUSTIC IS
PAINTING
DIANE’S 2017 BIRTHDAY WAS HELD AT SUPER WHEELS, A SKATING CENTER IN MIAMI, FLORIDA.
CATAGORIES
DIANE BIRTHDAY
MIAMI FRENETIC DRAWING INK
DIANE BIRTHDAY MIAMI
FRENETIC DRAWING INK
Boulder River
PHOTO WITH UF COLLEGE OF ART,DEAN ONYE OZUZU, UNDER A PAINTING OF THE ART COLLEGE AS SEEN FROM THE PLAZA. THE PAINTING IS HANGING AT THE RE CEPTION COUNTER FOR THE DEAN OF THE ART AND ART HISTORY DEPARTMENT. IT COULD NOT HAVE FOUND A MORE PERFECT LOCA TION.
PAINTING BY SHOOSTY 2017. OIL ON CANVAS, WITH PAINTED FRAME AND GOLD LEAF.
OIL ON CANVAS
BOB DYLAN 1965 NEWPORT JAZZ FES TIVAL VIDEO
2017 ORIGINAL VERSION
IN NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, DURING THE YEAR 1950 A MAJOR LEAGUE JAZZ FESTIVAL WAS ESTAB LISHED. FROM ITS INCEPTION THE MUSICIANS AND AUDIENCE ESCHEWED ELECTRIC INSTRUMENTS.
IN THE SUMMER OF 1965, WITHOUT ANY ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE BOB DYLAN AND BAND SET UP HEAVY EQUIPMENT AND STARTED TO PLAY “MAGGIES FARM,” THEN WENT ON TO PLAY THE NOW ICON IC SONG, “LIKE A ROLLING STONE.” THE AUDIENCE WAS APPALED AND BOOED INCESSANTLY. TODAY, THESE ARE CONSIDERED WORLD CHANGING.
I USE THIS STORY TO HELP EXPLAIN WHAT IS HAP PENING HERE WITH MY PLEIN-AIR PAINTING, OLD FLORESTA. THE FIRST THING TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT PLEIN-AIR MEANS PAINTING WHAT YOU SEE OUTSIDE.
PLEIN-AIR PAINTING AT THE COMPETITION LEVEL HAS STRINGENT RULES LIKE THE NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL. HERE IS ONE OF THE RULES I FOUND FROM A PLEIN-AIR COMPETITION: YOU MUST COM PLETE YOUR WORK 100% OUTSIDE FROM WHAT YOU SEE DURING THE WEEK, WITHIN THE ALLOWABLE BOUNDARIES. NO PAINTINGS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS AND NO ENTRIES PRODUCED USING MANIPULAT ED PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES, COMPUTER-ENHANCED IMAGERY, OR OTHER NON-PLEIN-AIR MEANS WILL BE ALLOWED.
JUST LIKE BOB DYLAN, I REJECT THIS RULE AS FOOLISHNESS. LET THE ARTIST DECIDE HOW FAR TO TAKE THEIR WORK, AS LONG AS THE WORK STARTS OUTSIDE OR INCORPORATES OUTDOOR PAINTING THEN IT SHOULD BE ALL IN GOOD SPIR ITS OF DOING THE BEST YOU CAN DO. WE SHOULD ENCOURGE THE USE OF THE NEWEST TECHNIQUES AND METHODS.
IN MY CASE, I MADE A SMALL PAINTING 12”X12” WITH A BESPOKEN FRAME AND THEN WENT HOME AND REFINED IT INTO THE FEELING OF A CIRCUIT BOARD. THE PLEIN-AIR PIECE LEFT ME FEELING LIKE IT IS RAW AND UNFINISHED, THE NEW VERSION HAS ALL THE MARKS OF MY STYLE. A YEAR LATER I WENT FURTHER WITH THIS CONCEPT AND USED VECTORS TO MAKE THE IDEALIZED VERSION. VECTORS CRE ATE PERFECT GRADIENTS AND LINES WITH EASE.
ASK YOURSELF THIS, IF THERE WERE NO RULES WHICH PAINTING IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF CRE ATIVITY AND IMAGINATION? WHICH ONE DO YOU LIKE THE BEST?
CATAGORIES
Bagpiping Gargoyal
CATAGORIES
