Treasure Hunter, 36 x 48 inches, oil on canvas.
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tackled issues of racism and human and civil rights, particularly in
the post-World War II period. In his lifetime, Rockwell was dismissed
by many as overly simplistic and sentimental; to this day he is, often
disparagingly, referred to as an “illustrator,” not an “artist.” But Rockwell
famously did not take offense to this. The wildly successful artist liked
to think of himself as an illustrator, depicting aspects of the world
around him that were otherwise unnoticed.
As Rockwell intentionally blended the related fields of design, illus-tration,
and painting in his life and career, Love is figuring out how to
balance those elements in his own practice. Design and painting have
been difficult to separate, but he’s working on engendering a bit more
distance.
“The design work definitely affects my painting. I’m trying to break
the two apart, to kind of relearn how to paint,” he says. “The big differ-ence
with painting is that I’m doing it for fun, so I want to try to recon-cile
the different mediums.”
Love’s work is exciting for a lot of reasons, but especially because it
is exploratory and features a wide stylistic range. His pieces appeal to
beach lovers as well as art enthusiasts looking for contemplation and
nuanced reflection.
While he certainly has plans for where his art is going, Love is
always open to the unexpected.
“A lot of mistakes end up being the best part of the painting,” he
says. “I just like to start with something and see where it goes.”
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