The art world is still quaking from these past couple weeks. More specifically, my local midwest backyard suffered two enormous artistic losses. First came Prince, the Minneapolis native who many saw as a musical genius and I'm betting you're familiar with his work.
The second loss, to me, was even more stirring with the passing of Terry Redlin, a Watertown, South Dakota native right where I grew up. Perhaps you aren't familiar with Terry Redlin. I'm telling you now that his work (paintings) will blow your mind.
This isn't the first time I've mentioned Mr. Redlin, the single most inspirational artist to me and my artistic career. I am saddened I was never able to meet him.
I wrote about a particular story his son shared with us during a tour of the Redlin Art Museum:
When Charles was a kid, he was challenged by Terry to select any single point within a room they were standing in. Terry said he could draw the entire room with every detail from that perspective. Charles admittedly tried to be clever, and pointed to a duck which was mounted near the ceiling in the corner of the room. Without hesitation, Terry began drawing the room from the duck's perspective, and after a while he finished.
Terry instructed Charles to take the sketch and carry it to the top of a ladder right near the duck and compare the actual room to the sketched rendering. Charles said he was awed by how accurate the depiction was of the room from the duck's perspective...everything was perfectly accurate and in the finest detail, even though it was drawn from the opposite side of the room. Of all the artistic qualities Charles said his dad had, he said Terry's sense of perspective was unrivaled.
If you go to the museum and see his art, you will truly be blown away by his amazing talent, his extraordinary ability to depict details with a tiny paintbrush, and how his artwork pours magical light into your soul.
Painting after painting, his work will amaze.
He influenced me so immensely from such an early age, I believe that the consistent exposure and inspiration he brought me has directly influenced my path to become an artist. He proved to me that unbridled creative freedom is the ultimate purpose and pleasure. It is possible to make a career of it.
I started my artistic pursuit by drawing his paintings as a little boy from the very living room that adorned my parents' walls, and now I stand today, creating art that always seems to have some Redlin in it.
My heart is saddened by this loss as I'm sure many are, but we need to celebrate the incredible gifts he brought to us. More importantly, we need to introduce his work to the unfamiliar. I can tell you that a trip to the Redlin Art Center will open their eyes with his brilliance.
Visit the Terry Redlin Art Center. You won't be sorry.
