Stephen Lucas  [b.1959 Los Angeles, California]

Living my dream of being a professional fine art painter is a rewarding journey. I devote much of each day to painting, but equally important to me is being an inspirational and influential contemporary fine artist. I studied at Ventura College School of Fine Art in Ventura, California, McCrady Fine Art School in New Orleans, Louisiana, and later apprenticed with painter, teacher, and theoretician, Wesley E. Johnson. During that time, my focus turned to abstract expression, and it was then that my true artistic vision opened up and took flight.

In 1998, a new dimension was added to my career portfolio when major motion picture studios and national television networks brought my art to film in TV shows such as “Will and Grace,” “Friends” and motion pictures such as “Bounce” and “Showtime.”

It is not my thing to abstract the world around me. My challenge is to capture the “essence of life”, the unseen, without using words or identifiable objects. Because of my creative process, I believe when a person is moved by my painting, it is a “purely personal and spiritual” experience, a communion; between the viewer and the painting, and on a deeper level, myself. This experience is not limited or influenced by words, places, or things. It is pure....beyond language, beyond differences, beyond dogma, beyond any and all association to the outside world. Therefore, what takes place is a private conversation between the viewer and the painting, and I'd like to think of myself as the initiator of a profound natural experience of self-exploration. That’s where Truth is found.

It has been one of my greatest pleasures in life to learn that sometimes, what a person experiences when viewing my art is a place deep within themselves, a place they have longed to tap into, and my painting was the key to helping them unlock it. The colors and composition come from my subconscious connection to my intuitive vision (it’s a soulful thing), my best work always comes from that part of me.

Artists are taught technique and how to see and draw the figurative world, but expression is from the soul and the soul longs for freedom. I find that freedom while painting non-representational art. In expression, there are no rules, but there IS truth, and truth can only be found deep within each and every one of us.  My art is an expression of the truth about me. My work reflects my life; openly and honestly....and my belief that there are infinite possibilities in every situation.  This is my language transformed with paint for the pleasure of the viewer!

I can tell you the images are from a subconscious place in my mind, and they are rarely intentional. I incorporate a tinge of blind contour drawing technique into my preliminary marks, taking lines from something that gets my attention, which seems to help establish a strong basic foundation for my composition. 

Folks who enjoy my artwork find other things to amuse their imagination within my painting. I'm curious to know what people see in my painting. Please keep in mind I paint without interpreting a specific space or figure: I simply make subtle marks using black paint with a round brush to make a basic foundation for my painting. I clear my mind and choose a basic color,  sometimes using a sponge, and I apply some loosely as a stain.  

I then take a swing at it! Naturally, I begin to see an image emerge from my two-dimensional canvas into an abstract picture. 

This new unique image is what's so very exciting to me. Within the lines and contrast, I begin to block in new shapes with light and dark opaque colors. 

The process sometimes takes weeks, and as it nears, when I sense a feeling of completion, the image, the lines, the composition and color simply sing to me!

I put the painting away for a little while to enjoy and critique it another time.

This is why I continue to paint.