Chase
This month we welcome to our venue, Ken Wilson, who enjoys painting cityscapes, landscapes and figurative studies in an impressionistic style. His favorite muse is the city as it allows him to work from a physical and emotional perspective. He enjoys imagining how many human stories might be intertwined within a single moment, then seeks to capture the essence of all of those possible stories in a painted narrative.
His work can be seen from New York to San Diego, with regular exhibitions in Kansas City. Currently, he is working on a commissioned two panel abstract for a client in California and has a series of vertical cityscapes in the works. He was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions from FAB L’Style.
Please describe your work in three words.
Texture, color, emotion.
Electric Avenue
What do colors mean to you?
I like to use color to set the mood and create some sort of drama or emotional tone in my work. Because I paint expressively, my colors often don’t conform to reality but are applied to let the viewer interpret them into their own reality. Or fantasy.
Hudson View
What would you do if you couldn’t paint?
I love music and wish I had the ability to write or perform, but I don’t have that talent. I think I’d probably write fiction. I’d consider cooking, but not professionally. I can’t see me doing well in a hot commercial kitchen for very long. Maybe if a Princess Grace type came along and offered for me to be her personal chef and boy toy I’d consider it!
Purple Rain – Prince
If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Is time travel a superpower? I think it would be interesting to be able to step into the past, for sure. The future, I’m not so sure I want to visit. If I can’t time travel then I think I’d want to be Batman. All those toys!
Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe, Ray Charles
Name three things on your bucket list?
My bucket list items generally involve visiting places I’ve never been or going back to places I have been and really enjoy. I would also like to be able to go somewhere for a few months to just paint and experience the local people and culture.
Cubs World Series
A Tradition in Red
What do you want to be remembered for?
That I brought some love, laughter, and compassion to the lives I touched.
What would you paint without a canvas?
A body. I’ve always wanted to try body painting.
Headed Home
What separates your art from others?
I don’t compare my art to others.
If you could choose only one charity to support, what would it be?
This is really difficult if I can only choose one. I’d have to do some research, but I would first want it to have very low overhead – I want most of the monies raised to go toward the organization’s purpose. Then I’d choose a charity that I think is under-served. For example, one of the charities I support locally works to protect and defend at-risk kids and mothers. So often, the victims of violence and domestic abuse have to hide in the shadows and their stories can’t be told. It’s hard for the organization to get its word out while also providing anonymity for those it serves.
End of the Day
Church Bells
For more information on Ken Wilson, visit www.kenwilsonartist.com
