Stephen Durden
Painter
Bio
With my first camera purchase I knew (although could not admit it to myself, or the world) that my soul belonged to the creative arts. I sought, with my camera, to see what others might not see, a flowering weed bursting through the sidewalk crack, an out of focus Christmas tree light that could pass for a purple or a blue or red star caught in a NASA close-up photo. Instead, I chose a career in words, becoming a lawyer. My family brought me back to art. I drew with my children. I used four different colors of pancake mix to make pancakes that looked like apple trees. I made multicolor cakes (the cake and icing). I kept playing with colors and light and turned to the more traditional art of paints and canvases. I seek to have my paintings show the viewer something not before seen. I hope to inspire joy and happiness. Sometimes I hope to encourage self-reflection. Every one of my paintings, is to me, a miracle, a once blank canvas be-comes a flower or a splash of colors playing with each other. I consider it miraculous that I created the image on the canvas. I will look and wonder how the lawyer created the image. I hope my art brings joy or reflection, reflection upon the world or reflection upon self.