Visit Keith’s Studio

Q&A with Keith

1. What is your chosen medium?

Paint. Mostly artists oils, but also acrylics with various mediums

2. How did you start your career in art?

I began doing freelance projects and then got a job as a Creative Graphic Artist based on that portfolio. I always kept active in life drawing groups, working with the human figure, which eventually led to my becoming a full time fine artist in 2000.

3. What informs your art?

I simply see something and must paint it. It began entirely with people I’d meet but later became largely Nature inspired. My father is very much an outdoorsman and he brought us up with a great appreciation for Nature through hiking, backpacking, raft trips, etc. Several trips to the West and Alaska doing photography solidified that love.

4. What jobs you have worked other than as a professional artist?

My first real job was as a Farm Manager of a 205 acre horse, cattle and sheep farm in Kentucky. It was awesome, but after 12 years my need to focus on my artwork, required me to pursue that full time. I’ve always felt my life had a blueprint in that regard, if I just had the courage to follow it.

5. What questions do you ask yourself when starting to work?

If I ask myself a question before I paint, it would probably be…”I wonder if I can try this…or that…”

6. Do you have a quote that’s important to you displayed in your studio?  If so, what is it?  

I have a few things written on my easel. Probably the one most art related is by Marcel Proust, who said “The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

7. Which artist (living or not) would you most like to invite for dinner? What would you serve?

I would love to invite John Rosmini to dinner. Unfortunately, he died in early 1996. I spent a great deal of time with him the last few months of his life and he was very inspirational to me. He was 89 at the time and had been an artist his entire life. He still seemed to look at the world anew each day, even at that age. While in Hospice care at home, I asked him if I could bring him anything to eat and he said, “Fried chicken and a Milky Way!”, so that is probably what I’d have if he came over.

8.  What has been your most unusual request for your art?

I had a young couple ask me to paint them together in the nude while she was 8 months pregnant. I did so and titled it, “In the Family Way”

9. What music are you listening to these days?

I have 9817 songs on my iPod (and growing). Music is a big part of my painting. I make playlists that generally start slow and build. That way it accompanies the way I paint. I like music with a strong beat when I’m in the groove and I want to keep it going. Lately, I’ve been listening to Brazilian Ibiza “Lounge” music! Entirely instrumental, it has great bass rhythm.

10. What is on your nightstand?

A small wooden cutout of a horse, done by a great uncle, and a large pile of library books. Oh, and a cool solar lantern designed by a couple of female students called a LuminAid. Designed for people in very poor environments, they are changing peoples lives. They also give off a beautiful warm light that is not too jolting if I wake up and want to read.