Stephen J. Bluto
Artist
Artist
| The Artist |
I received a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Art History and Illustration from Syracuse
University. After graduation I moved to New York City and spent five years training at
the Art Students League as well as the Spring Street Studio. I continued my education at
the New York Academy of Art, Graduate School for the Figurative Studies, which for me
offered the best and most intensive program.
The program harkens back to the academic training of the 19th century, developing a full
understanding of form and modeling as well as learning the subtle intricacies of painting
and drawing. The curriculum consisted of such classes as echorche, cast drawing and
figure structure, developing the ability to create paintings with a high level of realism. I
graduated from the academy Summa Cum Laude with a Masters of Fine Arts degree.
After graduation I taught Drawing 1, Drawing 2 and Figural Studies at the Community
College of Rhode Island.
My work has been shown at the Basil Lawrence Gallery in New York City. I have also
participated in several group shows in New York and the vicinity, some of the notable
examples include the North East Watercolor Society Annual show in which I won the
Camelia Artist Award, “Take Home a Nude”, in the Franklin Gallery at NYAA, The Erie
Canal Art Fair, Syracuse NY, and also at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My work is
also in the collections of various people such as the authors Mary and Carol Higgins Clark
University. After graduation I moved to New York City and spent five years training at
the Art Students League as well as the Spring Street Studio. I continued my education at
the New York Academy of Art, Graduate School for the Figurative Studies, which for me
offered the best and most intensive program.
The program harkens back to the academic training of the 19th century, developing a full
understanding of form and modeling as well as learning the subtle intricacies of painting
and drawing. The curriculum consisted of such classes as echorche, cast drawing and
figure structure, developing the ability to create paintings with a high level of realism. I
graduated from the academy Summa Cum Laude with a Masters of Fine Arts degree.
After graduation I taught Drawing 1, Drawing 2 and Figural Studies at the Community
College of Rhode Island.
My work has been shown at the Basil Lawrence Gallery in New York City. I have also
participated in several group shows in New York and the vicinity, some of the notable
examples include the North East Watercolor Society Annual show in which I won the
Camelia Artist Award, “Take Home a Nude”, in the Franklin Gallery at NYAA, The Erie
Canal Art Fair, Syracuse NY, and also at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My work is
also in the collections of various people such as the authors Mary and Carol Higgins Clark
“Only in men's imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable
existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life”
Joseph Conrad
In my youth I would spend time watching my father sit at his
easel and paint alluring images of nature. He would dab his
brush onto his palette that was loaded with various colors, grab
colors with the brush and distribute them onto the canvas. As a
child I was amazed at how he could take a simple thing like
paint, apply it to a blank canvas and transform the canvas into a
picture. I wanted to do what he could do, to be able to depict
nature as distilled through my mind. My goal in art is to express
the essence of nature through the medium of painting, to evoke
abstract values of beauty and spirit with representational
images.
easel and paint alluring images of nature. He would dab his
brush onto his palette that was loaded with various colors, grab
colors with the brush and distribute them onto the canvas. As a
child I was amazed at how he could take a simple thing like
paint, apply it to a blank canvas and transform the canvas into a
picture. I wanted to do what he could do, to be able to depict
nature as distilled through my mind. My goal in art is to express
the essence of nature through the medium of painting, to evoke
abstract values of beauty and spirit with representational
images.