Art

Item Description

This 21 x 27 matted Digital Art Piece is numbered #11 of 300 prints.

Frank F Steiner

Digital Artist

Frank has been involved with teaching art from pre-school to the University level.  During this time he developed his unique style of merging images connected by flowing black lines that capture both shape and brilliant color.  His medium of choice was India ink and Gouache, an opaque water color.

However on a quiet Sunday in 1985 his art world was abruptly changed.  He was in a violent head on collision with a drunk driver.  He went through years of physical and mental rehabilitation. The final outcome that impacted his artwork was the loss of his exacting hand control that produced the dynamic rhythm and the soul of his hard edged expressionist paintings.

He struggled for years to gain the control he once took for granted.  In the end he realized it would never be the same.  His mind visualized the images but he was incapable of bringing them to life.

As fate would have it he installed CAD programs (computer and design) in his landscape business.   As he saw the architects utilizing the new technology he became intrigued with the Fine Art possibilities.  Frank vehemently disliked computers and their non-human quality; yet he saw past the computers disconnectedness with the intuitive process of creating and imagined its capabilities beyond mechanical reproduction.  His search, by trial and error, took more then two years before he adapted his computer to replace the function he lost in his right hand.

Today he draws on a digital pad as he once did with his ink on paper.  He draws and changes his artwork pixel by pixel.  Think of a pixel as the tip of a pin and there are millions of pixels in any of his prints of today.  Yes, it takes him 10 times as long to produce a piece, but the real payoff is that he once again can produce the visions in his mind with the delicate, crisp and rhythmic lines of the past.

There are skeptics out there who are convinced that digital art is non-art.  Their computer illiteracy clouds their thinking to believe that the computer's myriad number of software programs actually become the artist and produce the artwork.  Actually the computer hard and software are no different then any other traditional medium, such as pen and ink.

Using the computer and the latest graphic arts quality digital printers takes the same creativity, aesthetics and skills as does silk-screen and lithography.  Its just another tool with which the artist can skillfully apply his personal talent in order to produce the art.

Well if you believe that his computer supported images are Fine Art then lets discuss his style.  As you look at one of his prints most people are taken, or even overwhelmed at first, by the bold color.  Many people can only see abstract shapes of brilliant color bordered by black lines.  As they spend time with the piece they will begin to recognize that this network of lines builds individual objects of the real world.  There are horses, chickens, churches, angels, trumpets, trucks, cows, sheep, clouds, grass, bushes, people and much more.  A living tapestry of New Mexico culture; it's symbols, landscapes, artifacts, animals and people.

Certainly each piece has a theme of its own, but most involve the recurring symbols of life and living in the Southwest.  The traditions of Native American pottery, Hispanic artifacts, symbols of faith and the heritage of the New Mexico artist/craftsman all influence his style.

Frank considers his current print series as New Mexico Folk Art expressionism which represents his life experiences, from the past to the present.

Item Special Note

Shipping: this item will be mailed from our shipping hub to the winning bidder at the conclusion of the auction in June.  Shipping charges are included for US addresses; additional charges for Canada not included.  No shipping outside of the US and Canada.

Note: Mat and picture are not distorted or damaged. Print is wrapped tightly in cellophane to protect it so print is a little pushed against the mat.