Welcome
Showcasing Chris Geurds Art
Seeing Something Different With Each View
Original pen&ink works with watercolors and mixed media works on paper
About Me
I've read about how to write a biography/about me. It seems most are written in the third person and this suggestion comes with the idea that it is more professional that way. Not considering myself a professional anything, this is how I chose to write this section. It's a little bit on how I remember my art influences and my ever developing style. Thank you for taking the time to read it.
I vaguely remember the elementary years but I do remember the influence of my late Mom. She knew that I had experienced enjoyment when it came to art, crafts and music. She encouraged my attraction to construction paper, glue, coloring books, crayons and colored pencils; a beginner's attraction that has grown and lasted all of my life. There is the memory of the Five and Dime store of the 60's that was visited for the supplies that my sisters and I would need to create. As long as I can remember I've been attracted to detail and, as simple as I can put it, color. There is also a memory of her signing us up for an arts and crafts summer class for a week. I feel very happy when I think about how my young daughter and I shared the same arts and crafts bond from what seems like not so long ago.
As junior high and high school progressed through the middle and late 70's so did my experience with art-related subjects, taking almost every kind of art class offered. Classes like leather craft, ceramics, wood and metal shops, linoleum block carving, painting and drawing were definitely my favorites.
My interest in music listening really took off when I started purchasing records at age 10. I think I still have all of my 45's. Combining my flair for drawing and music, album cover art became a passion for me. I spent hours staring at my vinyl LP album covers and sleeves gaining admiration and for use as models for portraits of artists like Lennon, Hendrix, Frampton and Dylan.
College contained just one undergraduate drawing class but the influence of the fundamentals taught established more of the groundwork for my drawings of today. Being an environmental major still has a significant influence on my works; my exposure to cartography (I love to stare at paper maps) and geomorphology (land forms) can be detected in the style of some of my pen and ink drawings (and now some watercolor works). Using a few of the ingredients of my studies, some of my attention became directed toward outdoor scenes including flowering plants.
Over the those years I have drawn countless works, giving many away to those who just admired a particular piece. My current drawing techniques combine a spiritual approach that agrees with my age and my experience with both the unknown and known. As my pen (or brush, I now might add) meets the paper with most works there are no thoughts about what it is I'm about to create. The only known factor is that eventually a shape or object(s) will appear. The various lengths of time until a concept is gained with each piece plays a part in its final stages of development. I really do get great satisfaction by designing a concept to which no prior thought toward that concept exists. The finished work of what was a mysterious undeveloped work sometimes provides for a memorable account of " the less thought the better ", especially when I actually like the piece. The only thing I can think of when asked of what I'd like to accomplish with my art is to hopefully inspire others.
All the best to you,
Chris
" The beauty of color is that there are basic colors available to everybody. But there are unlimited combinations of these colors, enabling the artist to create something unique that only they can create. " A W Tozer