Stuart

Allen

I am a native Tarheel, born and raised in Louisburg, a small rural town in Franklin County. Where I grew up, there were more tobacco, soybeans, cotton, old buildings, and pine trees than people. My art often shares that trait. I developed a love of art early, mostly at the feet of my mother who adored art and was a watercolor artist herself. She actively encouraged me in each medium I experimented with… and I tried most of them. When I was young, I also spent some time training with a local artist whose delicate touch showed well in her watercolors and pen and washes. I never learned that delicate touch. I fell away from art as life became too busy and made a career for myself in another field. I didn’t get back to art until my late 20s when my wife encouraged me to try it once more and got me lessons with Cathy Martin, a fabulous acrylic painter based in Apex. I discovered a love for acrylics and realized that medium paired well with my frenetic style, my impatience, and my love of color over realism. I now carve out time to paint and create late at night after my career job and parenting responsibilities subside.

I make art to make me happy. I share art to make others happy. I paint what I want, not what others desire.

Acrylic, Mixed Media, Pastels/Oil Pastels, Photography

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