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Gary Wick is a Chicago born artist who currently works with soft pastels. He is
primarily a studio painter preferring to work from photographs he shoots. He
does commission work from client's photographs only if he likes the subject
matter. His ability to create realistic paintings from photographs is a
testimony to his close relationship with both media.
Gary has been involved with art since childhood and basically is
self taught. He has studied with professional artists over the years and has
taken classes at the Art Institute of Chicago as a youngster when he was
recommended by one of his elementary school teachers and again after he
returned from Vietnam for a period of time. He is a member of various art
organizations and the La Grange Art League where he teaches pastels and does
workshops.
His basis for painting is "paint what you see," which
results in realistic art. Gary expresses his philosophy stating,
"I
prefer to document what I see rather than slap paint on a canvas abstractly. I'm a realist
and I see life and art in that light."
In 1998 Gary became a displaying art member at The National
Vietnam Veterans Art Museum which is permanently located in Chicago,
Illinois. This was a proud moment in his life. With the paintings he has
hanging in the museum, he feels he has received the acknowledgement he has
needed since he returned from Vietnam in 1968 and that act has brought closure
to war for him. His paintings do not show the blood and guts of war but a view
of humans caught up in their thoughts, thinking of today, or tomorrow, or of
home.
"Fine art, in my belief, does not have to match the color of a wall or the
furniture in a room, it should be something that you enjoy each time you look
at it. Think about what you see around a painting when you are really absorbed
into a painting. I hope it isn't the furniture. "Great art can hang
anywhere. Enjoy what you see."
-g.w.
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