George, Geisler, Art, art, fine art, drawing,figure drawing,figurative art, figurative painting, classical realism, contemporary realism,oil portraiture,pencil sketching,pencil drawing,academic figurative art,male nude drawing,male nude painting,female nude drawing,female nude painting,painting children,drawing children,religious art,theological art,liturgical art,biblical art,painting compositions,drawing compositions,Southern California artist,California artist, New York school of figurative painting, academic art,art on paper, art on canvas, formal art, informal art,anatomical art,portraits
I began searching for a way to express my take theology in a way that could relate to the everyman in each of us and look for ways in which we could see God in a setting that was approachable and totally understandable. I found a source in some photographs I'd seen by the late William Gedney of an extended family of Kentucky coal miners who spent idle hours working on dilapidated cars and trucks. Gedney's work is housed in the Duke University Library. My attempt is to create compelling compositions, keep to the theme of the austere state of this level of American culture and demonstrate the nature of life as lived in faith and grace. They are struggling to exist within the tenuous context which keep them from non-existence. The stories are real and mythical, but the contexts are the stuff of faith.
Being a classical realist I present the figure as a metaphor in the exploration of meaning in theology, the nature of the person within the being, and the dwelling of the spirit within the individual I seek to discover what is of true value within the participant in the art, myself as artist, and the viewer. Revealing the poetic lyricism of an individual's world is what I seek, the passion or myths it evokes, to involve the viewer at the crossroads of his or her choices in life. The art is traditionally created, oil on canvas, pencil on paper,yet curious to investigate more experimental approaches to the creation of art. My studio is filled with unexplored mediums and awaits opportunities to be utilized and nurtured. My approach has been to see the gesture of the form, develop composition and mass, and in the case of painting, the use of color.
Now retired from teaching academics in middle school, I teach art only at colleges in the Southern California area. I have spent a great deal of time in developing relationships with students, both elementary and college level, to grasp the nature of who they believe they are, how they breathe and move, their monsters and demons, as well as loves and passions. I am drawn to those who possesses some sort of uniqueness within which excites the need to explore that quality and reveal what exists there, through my creative process. Also, my wife and partner in all of this, our children and grandchildren all impact who I am and what I do, and what is of importance to me. -George Geisler