"I create with a childlike, energetic spirit. I use geometric shapes and organic forms and merge them into work that feeds the mind with wonder, reflection, and question."
My range of work includes graphic design, painting, and wood sculpture. I'm a Jacksonville native who graduated from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design in 2001. During that time, I began exhibiting my paintings at the Ritz Theatre and LaVilla Museum in Jacksonville and later at The Arts Center in St. Petersburg. For two years, I've worked as an illustrator for an aspiring author and had a pen and ink illustration published in Impact Press magazine in 2002.
In 2005, I earned a Master of Arts degree in Business from Webster University where I learned how to incorporate marketing strategies with my designs and exhibiting artwork. It didn't help me land a job in the corporate world, but it was useful when I began painting portraits for professional athletes, friends, and family members. A wrist injury and surgery in 2005 led to a revival of my early painting style, which consisted of wild, vivid colors and vigorous brushstrokes. When I paint, I use yellow, red, and green primarily to build my shapes and add emotion to my subjects and background. I still paint for clients now and then, but these days I find time to paint what I feel.
I've also taken an economical and environmental approach to creating art by using discarded wood and metal to produce abstract sculptures of the human form. I learned this when I studied Paul Cézannes theory (Cubism before Picasso coined it) that the basic shapes in nature are the sphere, cone, and cylinder. I didn't understand it until I learned how to draw figures in art class.
Years later, I finally understood what Cézanne meant when I started to build sculptures from found objects such as wood, brass, aluminum, and plastic. It forced me to better understand the principles of design including but not limited to balance, unity, value and color, and texture. My statues are generally held together by either screws, glue, or thin aluminum rods which act as a skeleton to hold joints in place.
And, I'm a freelance graphic designer who creates logos and illustrations for clients of a web designer and for direct clients. Depending on the assignment, I'm free to draw my own images and arrange fonts to fit the client's personality. However with a design that's going to be use for print, I have to keep whatever art I've drawn boiled down to simple-balanced terms. It could be used in black and white for a newspaper, letterhead, or business card. So far, my designs have been used mostly for the web, and others can see them in colorful clarity. I launched my own portfolio web site to give people a deeper look into my art and background. I continue to produce graphic designs for clients across the country and frequently present my paintings and sculptures in art galleries in St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, and Jacksonville. My work can be found in private collections and public institutions.
You're welcome to visit my main portfolio at www.keithdoles.com
