Artist Simon Dewey is a British artist who specializes in painting pictures of Jesus. He was raised in a humble, suburban London home. Here, the experiences and upbringing that molded the young artist provided the talent, faith, and inspiration that are manifested so beautifully in Simon's art.
Simon Joseph John Dewey, the only son of a London bus driver, was born in London, England in 1962. Simon's mother, Faith, a deeply spiritual woman, nurtured her children in an environment where God, love, and beauty were very much at home. When Simon's father, Joseph (known as Joe to his friends) was not driving the bus to support his family, he could usually be found in his makeshift studio in the corner of the small family room perfecting a portrait.
As Simon would watch his father's meticulous brushstrokes amidst the aroma of oil paints and the clutter of brushes, stretched canvases, and works in progress, something inside of him spoke of his own future. It was Joe's passion for his pastime that fostered within Simon the joy of creation for creation's sake, a true love of art, and an appreciation for the beauty of the human form. It was those early values that eventually guided Simon to follow in his father's footsteps as a portrait painter.
A gifted and dedicated student, Simon bypassed the counsel of his family and friends and left school at age seventeen to pursue his artistic dreams. He accepted an invitation to study at London Art College but soon realized that the liberal values of big city art schools were too conflicting with his own. Simon decided to develop his talents with more of a hands-on approach and took a job as a corporate visual aids illustrator spending his spare time studying the work of his heroes Norman Rockwell, Harry Anderson, and Tom Lovell. While working in the heart of the city of London directly opposite the splendid St. Paul's Cathedral, Simon honed his artistic skills and quickly became recognized for his exceptional illustrating abilities. This led to a position as the sole illustrator in a small design firm where Simon learned to produce detailed paintings under tight deadlines.
Simon soon met and married a bonny Scottish lass, Lorraine. With the prospects of a young family on its way, Simon took the leap and set up as a freelance illustrator. He quickly became known around London publishing and advertising circles as major clients used his talents.
When Arthur I Keller was just seven years old, he began attending the National Academy of Design, where he would begin his training to starting his career as an artist. In 1905, Bret Harte’s novel, Her Letter, His Response, and Her Last Letter was illustrated by Keller. In 1909, Emerson Hough’s work, 54-40 or Fight was also illustrated by Keller.
As a young boy Chris Van Allsburg enjoyed drawing. He loved to sit down and put his imaginative ideas to paper for his own viewing pleasure. In school and with his family he was not encouraged to spend so much time drawing and painting. Since he was a boy, he was encouraged to participate in sports more often. Chris Van Allsburg abandoned his passion for drawing and went along with the pressures of his family and friends. He would not discover his passion for a few more years.
... art is very self- rewarding and gives a great sense of accomplishment. Monetarily speaking, an artist such as Vermeer must paint in order to make a living and support his family of 11 children, “And there were other debts.” (pg. 209) Overall, the book describes the soul purpose of art to provide love, sorrow, warmth, depth and happiness to the soul and heart. The monetary wing is also very important because many of the owners had to sell the painting; no matter how much they treasured the painting, they still had to sell it because of monetary problems to keep them on their “feet.”
He got a lot of his inspiration from his mother. She loved painting with water colors and making
I was intrigued to research how artist represented the faith and the way Christ was looked upon thought out history.
Simon was the kind of person who kept to himself and looked at the world from a different point of view. His disease made him take life much more seriously than the rest of the group. The ironic thing about this is that even though he took life more seriously than others, he was the first to die. He was different because he was a member of the choir and unlike the other member of the choir, he did not hunt. Even Ralph was quoted as saying he was funny and queer. But he was right. He did not like the company of the other boys because on page 132 of the book, he is seen in his little bower where he just sits and becomes one with his mind. Most of the other boys are seen playing but not Simon. His maturity level and intelligence were far greater than some adults in this day and age.
This marked the beginning of his inspiration to form a personal, expressive, and religious stance on his art values and style. He has found his process and content that will be apparent in his future work.
Arts, the only art training that he would ever get. Even though as a child he was told he had no imagination he didn’t let that stop him from doing what he truly loved to do.
Being an artist was not automatically hereditary and any talented adolescent boy could join a studio as an apprentice. The training period each child underwent was usually extensive and demanding:
The women which Stephen comes across in his journey in becoming an artist define him and change him by nurturing him, fascinating him, and inspiring him. Stephen was forever changed by his mother, the Virgin Mary, Eileen, the prostitute, and the seaside woman. The object of the artist is to create the object of the beautiful, I argue that it was the beauty in the women of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which created the artist in the end.
The need for the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus’ artistic expression is emphasized in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Joyce juxtaposes Stephen Daedalus’ creativity with a commitment to his catholic religion while on his odyssey to find his identity. Which calling will he answer to—artist or priest? The text follows the protagonist through both his positive and negative experiences with priests and his early revelations of artistic talents. Stephen is surrounded by financial, political, and religious tensions in his family and reveals to Stephen how paralyzing these influences can be on one’s life. Joyce conveys the artistic manifestation that seems inherent in Stephen throughout his journey, whereas, portrays Stephen in a constant battle to accept the priesthood while often in doubt about the importance of religion. Joyce delivers a narrative of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man that believes that art is higher than religion. This idea embodies the description in Stephen’s love for art versus his apprehension for theology points to a plot that hints that art is better than religion.
As A Portrait of the Artist progresses, the structure of the relationship between Stephen, women, and art becomes increasingly clear. At one point in the novel, Stephen comes to the conclusion that his art involves "recreat[ing] life out of life" (434) and, at another, that he must "encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and forge in my soul" (Joyce 526). He realizes that to fulfill his destiny as an artist, he must embrace life and the experiences of which it consists, for it is from experience that he builds his creations. In light of this revelation, Stephen's life becomes "a process of accumulating experiences, as well as a struggle to break free of those institutions that would prevent him from doing so" (Peake 64). For Stephen, inspiration requires experience, and it is through women that Stephen gains the latter and, thus, receives the former. Peake
Through these early stages of art discussed above, it shows how the foundation for today’s modern works was laid out. They show how art has developed from simple cave paintings, to the tremendous force in society that it is today.
In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the author James Joyce uses the development of Stephen from a sensitive child to a rebellious young man to develop the plot of the novel. In this novel, Joyce suggests that through Stephen's experiences with religion, sexuality and education, Stephen not only becomes more mature but these experiences also inspire him to redefine his world and his understanding of his true feelings about art.
The arts have influenced my life in amazing ways. Throughout my life, art has been the place I run to and my escape from the world. As I’ve grown older, art has become so much more than that. Every piece of art I create is a journey into my soul. It’s a priceless way to deal with my emotions and my struggles. I create art not only because I enjoy it and because I want to, but because I have to. Somewhere deep inside there is a driving force, urging me to put my heart down on paper. I become emotionally attached to each of my pieces because they are like dashes on the wall marking my growth. Each one is the solution to a problem I have dealt with and overcome.