Dennis Perry AKA Perry

[Bongo]

Thanks for sharing a bit of your story. The "snow" painting really grabbed me. The bows are beautiful.

 

[stlukesguild]

"Snow" is the "painting" that grabbed me the most as well. I work in mixed-media with extensive use of pastel.

 

[KreativeK]

Congrats, Dennis, on a successful life story and interesting pursuits.

 

[ColorEnthusiast]

Nice to learn more about you, Dennis. I also thought Perry was your first name
The texture in your oil painting is stunning and I love your often dreamlike looking style.
Also your bows are looking great, my eldest son would love to have a grandpa making bows, but no chance for him

 

[Artyczar]

I am loving the texture of "Woods." All are really well rendered and skilled works, but I think that one is my favorite. Thank you so much for doing the interview Dennis!

 

[RaquelB]

Congratulations Dennis! In my mind you were going to be the next special artist selected...
I find your work in general impressive, especially Woods.
The works that are your favourites are pretty amazing, but I will go again for Tools, because they show your amazing sense of colour. I believe Vermeer would be proud of it. I understand one of his intense qualities as an artist was his capacity to show the space around people and objects on his canvas, which you do so well.
And the first bow... Its lines are beautiful!!! A perfect work of art in a form.
Thank you for showing us.

 

[laika]

All that and a maker of bows! Very cool, Dennis Perry!
I love your answer to question #6.

 

[Joy]

Denny, I really enjoyed your work, and appreciated the effects you were able to achieve with the pastel in a variety of subject material. Tools was my fave for composition, color, and textures. You have quite a range of skills and talents. Thank you for sharing yourself and your art!

I live in Johnstown, Pa, so we are practically neighbors. And today I was at the indoor archery range shooting my recurve bow, a hobby taken up since retirement. I much prefer field archery, though. Your bows are gorgeous. There are a very few traditional archery shooters in the club, but I appreciate the simplicity. The compound bow has basically engineered the human out of it; one does not even touch the string. What poundage draw are these?

One of the gun ranges to which I belong has a dedicated muzzle loader range. I have never tried that, but have shot just about everything else. We also took up .22 target shooting in retirement, revolvers and semi-autos. We shoot iron sights, and double action with the revolvers.

 

[joe1It]

Perry, great interview and they are all wonderful paintings. there is variety and wonder, and I couldn't even pick a favorite.

 

[Artyczar]

I used to live in PA for about a year as a kid, but about 100 miles away in Allentown. We also did a lot of shooting, hunting there too, and my dad was a WWII Vet, so he always had guns around and took us kids to the range. I never did archery but was always interested in it.

 

[JennieJo]

Hello! It's time for February's Spotlight!

This month we are very excited to present our very own Dennis Perry who you may know simply as "Perry." Who knew Perry was his last name? I sure didn't. But now, see? Now I know just a little more about Dennis already. And you will too by reading our ten-question interview with this most talented artist.

We've asked Dennis to include five images of his favorite works, or ones that best represents him as an artist. Lately, I have seen some very compelling new abstract paintings of his in the Contemporary and Abstract Forum that you might also want to check out.

Well, okay, without further adieu, (or is it "ado?"), let's get to it...

1. Where are you from?

I presently live in Centerville Pa, a rural area about 45 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. I grew up near Oakdale Pa, a small town south of Pittsburgh. It was in the country and our home was across the road from a small farm. It was a great place to spend my childhood.

2. How long have you been creating art?

I went to commercial art school in 1972 so it has been about 50 years. There were breaks from art during that time especially when our children were young and since art was not my profession I could not dedicate as much time to it as I would have liked. I worked in a commercial art studio for 3 years after graduating art school, but I didn't pay enough so I went into engineering as a draftsman.

View attachment 18305
(Fog, 8"x10" gouache on paper.)

3. What is your main media?

I would have to say soft pastel although I haven't done pastels for a while. I think I have done my best work in pastel. Right now, I'm working in acrylic, and I am having some luck with it.

View attachment 18306
(Tools, 8"x10" soft pastel on paper.)

4. Who are your artistic influences?

Early on I was influenced by Norman Rockwell. I really loved his illustrations for publications. Later on, Cézanne and Vermeer. More recently it would be Morandi.

View attachment 18307
(Plane, 16"x20" soft pastel on paper.)

5. What style of art do you like to create?

Right now, I'm enjoying my attempts at abstract. I still like doing representational and I will probably return to it, but you never know, that's what keeps it interesting for me.

View attachment 18308
(Snow, 18"x26" soft pastel on paper.)

6. How is art important to you?

It's important to me for a number of reasons. It's a challenge and at my age, I'm not ready for the rocking chair and just doing things that are easy is not what I need. It is also enjoyable because you never know what surprises you will run into. Since I'm retired now, I need that sense of accomplishment in my life.

7. Outside of art, what do you do for fun?

I enjoy fishing, golfing, archery, muzzleloader shooting, and bow building. The bow building is kind of an art also. The bows I build are called selfbows. They are made just like the native Americans made them, from one piece of wood.

View attachment 18309
(Woods, 8"x10" oil on canvas.)

8. What has been your most satisfying accomplishment (art or otherwise)?

I think it would be doing the best I could for my family.

9. If you could give some piece of advice to a new artist starting out, what would it be?

Be patient and don't be too hard on yourself.

10. Do you have a website, and/or social media platforms you would like to promote?

I don't have a website.

(Bonus Question): Anything else you'd like to share?

I would like to add that going to art school was my introduction to creating art and it was very helpful to me. School is not necessary to become successful of course but if you are just starting out, I think it is something to consider.

Also, thank you Arty for giving me this opportunity and thanks for this website.

Thanks for sharing the story and the artwork. It's nice to know other member's stories