How I Became an Artist
I became an artist by gradual happenstance and slow validation: a grandmother
showing me how to draw a bird, my mother praising a picture I did of a ship with
five smokestacks (I still have it), my loving a ‘paint by numbers’ horse a cousin
did for me when I was very sick (I still have it too), a salesman coming to our
house from “Famous Artists School” in response to my version of “Draw This
Pirate’s Head and Have a Career in Art” (not an option for a fourteen year old),
scribbling pictures endlessly in school notebooks, getting compliments from
friends for my artwork, getting detention from a teacher for undressing my
female classmates with a pencil, then making caricatures of such spoilsport
teachers, and thereafter more and more keeping a sketchbook diary as a
pleasant pastime, doing little pen and ink drawings and watercolors to enjoy
myself on vacation, selling some of them to interested strangers, beginning oil
painting to fill bare walls of my first apartment, taking art classes after work,
finding artists as friends, dating many of them, one of whom introduced me to
my artist wife Gail, encouraging me to make bigger pictures, join art
associations, enter shows, getting rejected, accepted, rejected again and
again, eventually winning some awards, being called an artist by other artists,
and selling enough to almost pay expenses in an ever entertaining, always
engaging, most meaningful way of life.
From a series of articles on this topic, in the Rhode Island Watercolor Society
Newsletter, 2007
I became an artist by gradual happenstance and slow validation: a grandmother
showing me how to draw a bird, my mother praising a picture I did of a ship with
five smokestacks (I still have it), my loving a ‘paint by numbers’ horse a cousin
did for me when I was very sick (I still have it too), a salesman coming to our
house from “Famous Artists School” in response to my version of “Draw This
Pirate’s Head and Have a Career in Art” (not an option for a fourteen year old),
scribbling pictures endlessly in school notebooks, getting compliments from
friends for my artwork, getting detention from a teacher for undressing my
female classmates with a pencil, then making caricatures of such spoilsport
teachers, and thereafter more and more keeping a sketchbook diary as a
pleasant pastime, doing little pen and ink drawings and watercolors to enjoy
myself on vacation, selling some of them to interested strangers, beginning oil
painting to fill bare walls of my first apartment, taking art classes after work,
finding artists as friends, dating many of them, one of whom introduced me to
my artist wife Gail, encouraging me to make bigger pictures, join art
associations, enter shows, getting rejected, accepted, rejected again and
again, eventually winning some awards, being called an artist by other artists,
and selling enough to almost pay expenses in an ever entertaining, always
engaging, most meaningful way of life.
From a series of articles on this topic, in the Rhode Island Watercolor Society
Newsletter, 2007
| All rights reserved. |
Craig Masten Artist Website
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About the Artist
Artist's Statement
In my artwork I’m trying as many ways as possible to engage the viewer, to find new ways of
experiencing the familiar. What does it require to turn our heads, raise a camera up, take a deep
breath, smell something, touch something, listen to a story? If I can get someone to stop for a
moment in front of one of my pictures, I’m pleased.
My approach is neither solely realistic nor abstract. I feel art is more interesting when grounded
in common, evocative images in the world rather than purely non-reprsentational shapes. But, at
the other extreme, I find painting unsatisfying which aspires to photographic verisimilitude.
That's the camera’s realm. Probably you could proudly count me into the impressionist/ post-
expressionist tradition of western art.
As for technique, I subscribe to the importance of value contrast, color harmony, draftsmanship
and composition--though with the caveat all the above rules are made to be broken when a
subject or situation requires. That said, you don't get a valid artistic license without significant
training, ample practice, and development of an individual style.
I use many tools and materials to get the apprearance I want in my artwork. With oils, I go back
and forth between a palette knife and a brush for effects neither by themselves can give. With
watercolors I'm prone to use both ends of the brush, scratching the paint to get rougher, but to
my mind, more natural looking detail than a rigger brush gives. A penknife is another favorite tool
to scrape textures into watercolor paintings--a kind of 'after the fact' drybrush effect--and a way to
get the whites back. I don't rule out anything that works for a particular painting. With watercolors,
I've been known to pick up twigs and leaves to apply paint, to dump and spray water, even to
drag the paintings across beach sand and stones. I've scrapped oils with sandpaper, applied
the paint thick from the tube or thinned to a wash, splattered, smudged, scraped, streaked and
blended--all in pursuit of the look a painting requires.
And whatever I do, I try to do it confidently . In this regard, I subscribe to the motto of the Special
Olympics: "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be bold in the attempt." Many paintings are
impressive at a distance, but up close, the paint application is wishy-washy, fussy or tentative. To
me a successful painting should have appeal and surety of execution both from across the
room, and as near as its individual brush strokes.
Finally, good art should have lasting appeal. There’s an old adage where I live in New England
that firewood heats us three times: in the cutting, in the stacking, and in the burning. I’d like to
paraphrase this to the pleasures artwork provide: first, the joy in creating, second, sharing with
others in an exhibition, and of course, third, when selling to an appreciative buyer. Any artist or
collector knows this to be true. Art is not a luxury. The pursuit of art, whether through creation or
appreciation, gives profound meaningfulness to our lives.
In my artwork I’m trying as many ways as possible to engage the viewer, to find new ways of
experiencing the familiar. What does it require to turn our heads, raise a camera up, take a deep
breath, smell something, touch something, listen to a story? If I can get someone to stop for a
moment in front of one of my pictures, I’m pleased.
My approach is neither solely realistic nor abstract. I feel art is more interesting when grounded
in common, evocative images in the world rather than purely non-reprsentational shapes. But, at
the other extreme, I find painting unsatisfying which aspires to photographic verisimilitude.
That's the camera’s realm. Probably you could proudly count me into the impressionist/ post-
expressionist tradition of western art.
As for technique, I subscribe to the importance of value contrast, color harmony, draftsmanship
and composition--though with the caveat all the above rules are made to be broken when a
subject or situation requires. That said, you don't get a valid artistic license without significant
training, ample practice, and development of an individual style.
I use many tools and materials to get the apprearance I want in my artwork. With oils, I go back
and forth between a palette knife and a brush for effects neither by themselves can give. With
watercolors I'm prone to use both ends of the brush, scratching the paint to get rougher, but to
my mind, more natural looking detail than a rigger brush gives. A penknife is another favorite tool
to scrape textures into watercolor paintings--a kind of 'after the fact' drybrush effect--and a way to
get the whites back. I don't rule out anything that works for a particular painting. With watercolors,
I've been known to pick up twigs and leaves to apply paint, to dump and spray water, even to
drag the paintings across beach sand and stones. I've scrapped oils with sandpaper, applied
the paint thick from the tube or thinned to a wash, splattered, smudged, scraped, streaked and
blended--all in pursuit of the look a painting requires.
And whatever I do, I try to do it confidently . In this regard, I subscribe to the motto of the Special
Olympics: "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be bold in the attempt." Many paintings are
impressive at a distance, but up close, the paint application is wishy-washy, fussy or tentative. To
me a successful painting should have appeal and surety of execution both from across the
room, and as near as its individual brush strokes.
Finally, good art should have lasting appeal. There’s an old adage where I live in New England
that firewood heats us three times: in the cutting, in the stacking, and in the burning. I’d like to
paraphrase this to the pleasures artwork provide: first, the joy in creating, second, sharing with
others in an exhibition, and of course, third, when selling to an appreciative buyer. Any artist or
collector knows this to be true. Art is not a luxury. The pursuit of art, whether through creation or
appreciation, gives profound meaningfulness to our lives.
Artist Profile
Craig Masten has sketched and painted all his adult life, and in recent years devotes himself to art on a full time basis. He
considers oil painting his first love, but also enjoys watercolors, as well as pastels, print-making, and pen and ink. He has
studied at the Museum School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts; the DeCordova Museum School in
Lincoln, Massachusetts; and currently participates in a variety of painting and figure/life art programs.
Since moving to Rhode Island in 2002, Mr. Masten has taken workshops taught by a number of the area’s artists, including
Mildred Kelleher, Al Albrektson, Allen Johnson, Sam Rouslin, Richard Grosvenor, Carole Berren, Anthony Thomaselli, Richard
Harrington, Joan Boghossian, Betsy Zimmerman, Lisa Goddard, and Gail Armstrong. Most especially, he gives credit to the
encouragement of Natalie Pfansteihl and the members of her Narragansett Bay plein air painting group. He has spent many
pleasant hours in their company attempting to capture the memorable places of New England. He also acknowledges other
contemporary artists--notably Eric Weingardt, Charles Reid, Richard Schmid, William Thon and David Aldridge--as significant
influences in his development as a painter.
Mr. Masten is an award-winning artist member of the Rhode Island Watercolor Society, the Wickford Art Association, the South
County Art Association, the Cape Cod Art Association, the Providence Art Club, and Spring Bull Studio and Gallery. He has
shown his work in numerous juried shows and exhibitions at these organizations, as well as at the DeCordova Museum, the
Warwick Art Museum, the Newport Art Museum, the Newport Art Guild, and BFA Studioworks Gallery. His work is regularly
represented at the Spring Bull Studio Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island, and at the Deacon Taylor House and Gallery,
Studio #3, in Providence, Rhode Island.
Craig Masten has sketched and painted all his adult life, and in recent years devotes himself to art on a full time basis. He
considers oil painting his first love, but also enjoys watercolors, as well as pastels, print-making, and pen and ink. He has
studied at the Museum School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts; the DeCordova Museum School in
Lincoln, Massachusetts; and currently participates in a variety of painting and figure/life art programs.
Since moving to Rhode Island in 2002, Mr. Masten has taken workshops taught by a number of the area’s artists, including
Mildred Kelleher, Al Albrektson, Allen Johnson, Sam Rouslin, Richard Grosvenor, Carole Berren, Anthony Thomaselli, Richard
Harrington, Joan Boghossian, Betsy Zimmerman, Lisa Goddard, and Gail Armstrong. Most especially, he gives credit to the
encouragement of Natalie Pfansteihl and the members of her Narragansett Bay plein air painting group. He has spent many
pleasant hours in their company attempting to capture the memorable places of New England. He also acknowledges other
contemporary artists--notably Eric Weingardt, Charles Reid, Richard Schmid, William Thon and David Aldridge--as significant
influences in his development as a painter.
Mr. Masten is an award-winning artist member of the Rhode Island Watercolor Society, the Wickford Art Association, the South
County Art Association, the Cape Cod Art Association, the Providence Art Club, and Spring Bull Studio and Gallery. He has
shown his work in numerous juried shows and exhibitions at these organizations, as well as at the DeCordova Museum, the
Warwick Art Museum, the Newport Art Museum, the Newport Art Guild, and BFA Studioworks Gallery. His work is regularly
represented at the Spring Bull Studio Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island, and at the Deacon Taylor House and Gallery,
Studio #3, in Providence, Rhode Island.
Craig Masten Artist Resume
Spring Bull Studio and Gallery Deacon Taylor Studios and Gallery
55 Bellevue Avenue 9 Thomas Street
Newport, Rhode Island 02840 Providence, Rhode Island 02903
EDUCATION—B.A., DePauw University, Greencastle Indiana; M.A., Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts; M.S.W.,
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; the DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts; the Museum School,
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts; Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Brookline Art
Association, Brookline, Massachusetts; and Brighton Art Association, Brighton, Massachusetts. Later studied locally in
Rhode Island with artists Natalie Pfansteihl, Mildred Kelleher, Al Albrektson, Allen Johnson, Sam Rouslin, Richard
Grosvenor,Carole Berren, Anthony Thomaselli, Richard Harrington, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Joan Boghossian, Gail
Armstrong, and Lisa Goddard.
ART MEMBERSHIPS and AFFILIATIONS
--Providence Art Club, Artist Member
--Rhode Island Watercolor Society, Signature Artist Member
--Wickford Art Association, Artist Member
--Cape Cod Art Association, Artist Member
--South Country Art Association, Artist Member
-- Newport Artists Guild/Newport Art Museum
--Spring Bull Studio and Gallery, Artist Member
--Deacon Taylor Studios and Gallery, Artist Member
RECENT PRIZES and AWARDS
--Second Place, Wickford Art Association, 2008
--Signature Member, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2008
--Stella Halit Award, Providence Art Club, 2008
--Honorable Mention, Wickford Art Association, 2008
--Honorable Mention, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2007
--Honorable Mention, Providence Art Club, 2007
--First Place, Wickford Art Association, 2007
--First Place, Wickford Art Association, 2007
--Second Place, Cape Cod Art Association, 2006
--Second Place, Wickford Art Association, 2006
--Honorable Mention, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2005
--Honorable Mention, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2005
RECENT GROUP SHOWS
--2008--Portsmouth Art Association, "Rhode Island Watercolor Society Invitational."
--2007—Spring Bull Gallery, Special Exhibition of Rhode Island Watercolor Society Painters.
--2007-- Providence Art Club, Two Person Show with wife Gail Armstrong, “A Marriage of Two Artists.”
--2007--Rhode Island Watercolor Society, Three Person show with wife, Gail Armstrong, and uncle, Henry Budlong,
“Related Perspectives.”
--2007—Spring Bull Gallery, Four Person Show with wife, uncle, and mother in law,“Related Scenes.”
--2006—Wickford Art Association, Narragansett Bay Plein Air Painting Group Show.
--2005—Spring Bull Gallery, Narragansett Bay Plein Air Painters Group Show.
--2005—Wickford Art Association,Four Person show with wife, uncle and mother-in-law,“It’s All Relative.”
RECENT EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
--Open Juried Avant Garde/Abstract/New Media Show, Wickford Art Association, 2008
--Open Juried All Media Invitational, South County Art Association, 2008
--Open Juried "National Show," the Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2008.
--Open juried "Regional All New England Show," Cape Cod Art Association, 2008.
--Open Juried "Paint Rhode Island." show at the Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2008
--Portsmouth Invitational for the Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2008
--Open Juried National Watermedia Show, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2008
--Open Juried Regional, Cape Cod Art Association, 2008
--Rhode Island Artists for Save The Bay,2008
--Stella Halit Award, Artist Members Show, Providence Art Club, 2008
--Open National “Annual Juried Exhibition, “Providence Art Club, 2008”
--Open Juried show, Wickford Art Association, “Man or Beast.” 2008
--Open Juried Regional, “New England Exhibition,”Cape Cod Art Association, 2007
--Open juried "Scenes of Rhode Island, sponsored by Gov. Carcieri and the Rhode Island Council for the Arts, 1007
--Open Juried, National Watermedia Show, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2007
--Co-presenter in gallery program, “Artists Who Marry Artists,” Bert Gallery, 2007
--Honorable Mention, Rhode Island Watercolor Society Show, “Passion for Color,” 2007
--Three Person Show, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, “Related Perspectives,” 2007
--Open Juried Regional, Cape Cod Art Association, 2007
--Open juried National, Cape Cod Art Association, 2007
--Four Person Show, SpringBull Gallery, “Related Scenes,” 2007
--Honorable Mention, Juried Artist Members Show, Providence Art Club, “Construction, Reconstruction,” 2007
--Open National “Annual Juried Exhibition,” Providence Art Club, 2007
--Two Person Show, Providence Art Club, “A Marriage of Two Artists,” 2007
--First Place, Juried “Spring Members Show,” Wickford Art Association, 2007
--First Place, Open Juried Show, “Interiors,” Wickford Art Association, 2007
--Presenter, Rhode Island Flower Show, “Art in the Garden,” 2007
--Open juried regional,”New England Exhibition,” Cape Cod Art Association, 2006.
--Plein Air Painting Group Exhibition, Wickford Art Association, 2006.
--Second Place, watercolors, Artist Members Show, Cape Cod Art Association, 2006
--Newport Art Guild Show, 2006
--Open Juried Regional, Cape Cod Art Association, 2006
--Open juried Pen, Pencil and Colored Pencil Show, 2006
--Microworks Show, Providence Art Club.
--Springbull Gallery, Fakes and Forgeries Show, 2006
--Open juried show, “Scenes of the Ocean State,” Wickford Art Assciation, 2006.
--Open juried show, “Watercolor Magic,” Rhode Island Watercolor Society, 2006.
--Open juried all media show sponsored by Governor Carcieri and The Rhode Island Council of the Arts, 2006
--Three Person Show, “It’s All Relative,” Wickford Art Association, 2005
--Open juried show, RIWS, “National Watermedia Show,” 2005.
--Second Place, juried all members show, Wickford Art Association, “Member Watercolor Show,” 2005.
--Warwick Museum, “Warwick Shows Off,” an invitational exhibition of Warwick area Artists, 2005
--Open juried show, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, “Bon Voyage,” 2005
--“Open Juried I Exhibition,” South County Art Association, 2005
--Honorable Mention, “Artist Members Juried Show,” Rhode Island Watercolor Society, “Members Annual,” 2005
--Honorable Mention, open juried show, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, “Interiors,” 2005
--Spring Bull Gallery, Newport,“Natalie and Friends Group Show,” 2005.
--Open juried all media show, South County Art Association, “Members Invitational,” 2005.
--Spring Bull Gallery, “Poetry and Art Show,” 2005.
--Open juried "Scenes of Rhode Island," sponsored by Governor Carcieri and The Rhode Island Council on the Arts, 2005.
--Rhode Island Watercolor Society,”New Artist Members Exhibit,” 2005.
--BFA StudioWorks Gallery at Pontiac Mills, “Natalie Pfansteihl’s Thursday Outdoor Painters Group Show,” 2004.
--Open Juried "Scenes of Rhode Island, sponsored by Gov, Carciere and the Rhode Island Council on the Arts, 1004
--“All Media Juried II Show,” South Country Art Association, 2004.
--Open juried all media show, Warwick Museum, “Eighteenth Annual Competition and Exhibition for Rhode Island,” 2004.
--Open juried show, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, “Autumn Colors,” 2004.
--Open juried all media show, Wickford Art Association, “Abstract/Avant Garde Show,” 2004.
--Juried all media “Members Show,” South Country Art Association, 2004.
--Open juried show, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, “Toys big and Small,” 2004.
--Spring Bull Gallery, Newport, “Summer Waters,” 2004.
--Open juried all media show, Wickford Art Association, “Art of the Ocean State,” 2004.
--Juried all media “Members Annual”, South County Art Association, 2004.
--“All Media Juried I Show,” South County Art Association, 2004.
--Open juried all media show, Wickford Art Association, “All Creatures Great and Small,” 2004.
--Open juried show, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, “Things Designed by Man,” 2004.
--Juried all media “Members Show,” Wickford Art Association, 2004.
--Open juried "Scenes of Rhode Island," sponsored by Gov. Carcieri and the Rhode Island Council on the Arts,” 2003.
-- StudioWorks Gallery at Pontiac Mills, “Holiday Jazz Show,” 2003.
-- Spring Bull Gallery, Newport, “Black and White Show: Works in Graphite, Ink and Charcoal,” 2003
--Juried all media “Fall Members Show” Wickford Art Association, “Water-Media Show and Sale,” 2003.
--Open juried show, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, “Scenes of New England,” 2003.
Copyright 2008 Craig Masten All Rights Reserved
