Northern California artist, Steve Walters, has worked the last thirty-five years as a commercial artist, art director, fine art teacher and painter. Steve also has been called upon as a popular demonstration and workshop artist as well as juror and judge for many regional competitions.
He enjoys a wide range of subject matter, including figures, genre, landscapes and especially paintings based on foreign travels. Having sketched and painted on location in many exotic locales, including Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Mexico, he has become especially recognized for images portraying Old Colonial Mexico and its native Indian population.
Steve has won a total of twenty-one awards in national and international competitions, including many Best-of-Show awards. He has exhibited at the Lancaster Art Museum, has participated in numerous one-man and group shows and has been affiliated with many galleries over the past nineteen years.
Memberships:
Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society
Signature Member of Watercolor West
Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Gallery:
Sunset Oaks Gallery, Auburn, California
Education:
California State University, Los Angeles, B.A.
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
Workshop and Private Painting Instruction - Jay Mosby, Vernon Wilson and Milford Zornes
Commercial Experience:
Advertising Design, Graphic Design, Signage and Point-of-Purchase – 21 years with various corporations and agencies
Teaching Experience:
Calif. Art Institute, West Lake Village – 1998-2006
Burbank Creative Arts Center – 1998-2006
Brand Library Studios, Glendale - 1990/1999-2000
City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Dept. -- 1989-1992
Publications:
The Artist’s Magazine – 1992
Gold Country Monthly – 2007
Auburn Journal -- 2008
American Artist -- 2010
Artist's Statement:
Interpreting, expressing and communicating my feelings and ideas of nature and the world around me through painting and visual means have been a lifelong pursuit.
Where poets enjoy playing with words, I love the process of juggling the many formal elements of painting – texture, shape, color, tone, line, edge quality, etc. -- and pulling together in an original manner a successful composition or design.
Expressing mood and emotion and conveying a strong sense of light and atmosphere while portraying nature in a spirited manner are my true subjects and inspiration. Combining this with an inventive approach, the ordinary can be made compelling, with subject matter merely a vehicle. Romantic scenes or the picturesque are, of course, exciting and interesting to paint, but the challenge of creating and allowing a more personal and unique point-of-view to emerge from my work is of much greater significance.
