I started
drawing and painting as a child but my favorite medium
became oil painting. In the early 60's my parents gave me the
opportunity to study art at Paier School of Art with Ken Davies, former instructor and
dean, who has been heralded as one of the country’s foremost still life
painters. I continued painting for many
years doing a variety of subjects but my area of interest was still life,
landscapes and seascapes.
As a young child I
used to visit my father's store on Saturday's to help him out, or perhaps it
was to keep me out of mischief. One year an artist from Italy rented out the
top floor of his building to use as a studio. My father visited his
studio one day told him about my interest in art and he offered to let me come
visit his studio. The artist's name was Mr. Mundo (I was 11 at the
time and adults didn't have
first names back then) and that visit turned into a weekly ritual until Mr. Mundo finished his commissions and returned to Italy. He had been
commissioned to do some murals for churches in the area. Those visits with
Mr. Mundo were truly inspirational watching him paint. At the end
of each visit Mr. Mundo gave me an old brush (he apparently never used them for
very long) and some paint. It was truly inspirational watching him paint
and after graduating
from college my parents gave me a wonderful graduation gift... a trip to Italy.
I went with a friend and did the typical tourist stuff but my
goals were to see as many of the works of Michelangelo (my idol) as possible
while I was there. I got to see many of his famous pieces as well as a
few I never knew existed and I was truly blown away facing (well not
actually since they were so much larger than life) the statues of Moses and
David. Truly awesome! I have traveled to many places since then but that was
one trip that will forever remain in my mind.
I stopped painting in 1992
when I suffered a "melt down" due to stress from my job. I was
unable to work and had lost all interest and inspiration to paint. It
would not be for another 8 years before I got back into art and then it
took on a totally different meaning for me.
All of my
drawings disappeared when my parents retired and sold their home
moving to an apartment. Many of my early
paintings were sold or given away years ago but I was able to retrieve those paintings that
remained in
my mother's home when she died. Below are the
paintings that remained and I still have in my collection.
Looking at these
paintings and my current works you can see how my work has grown and matured since
these paintings were done. My early work seems to lack the passion
and emotion that is evident in my current work. I strongly
believe that my art, which became my therapy after my breakdown as
well as my life
experiences since then have given my work new meaning and I have
blossomed as an artist to a point I never dreamed I would achieve.
If you would like to
view more of Alan & Nedra's work, please go to
www.picturetrail.com/nedradenison
How to purchase an oil
painting.
If you would like to
purchase one of Nedra's oil paintings,
please contact Nedra.
