Shea Guevara

Biography

Born in West Valley City Utah, raised in Taylorsville a suburb in the middle of the Salt Lake Valley, Shea grew up dreaming of being an artist. He continually taught himself from instructional books and by enrolling in classes at the nearby art store. In High School Shea was introduced to the Graphic Arts and there developed an interest in type and visual communication, which later would become a major influence in his work. While he always wanted to become an artist, he didn't study art initially when he first enrolled in college, but instead spent years studying philosophy and psychology. It wasn't until his fourth year in college he decided to change his major to Fine Art and study at the University of Utah. In so doing he was able to obtain a dual emphasis and studied both Graphic Design and Painting, working under John Erickson, MacRay Magleby, Tom Hoffman, Brad Slaugh, Dung Hoang and others, obtaining a BFA from the University of Utah in 2004. Upon graduation, Shea went to work as a Graphic Designer in Salt Lake City, continuing his painting at home at night after his kids went to bed. Shea loved his work as a Designer and the people he worked with. After much thought and consideration he with his family decided to move to Cache Valley in early 2008 to focus on his painting. Shea currently resides in Logan, paints, and lives with his wife and two children, devoting his time to exploring what paint can do and growing as an artist.

Artist Statement

I believe my work is about finding a harmony within dichotomies. Growing up in the Salt Lake Valley I took every opportunity to escape from suburbia into the nearby mountains or the desert. But no matter how far away I seemed to go, I always found the influence of man on the environment; roads, power lines, observation towers, trail markers, plumbing, etc.. The opposite can be said within suburbia and within the miles of concrete most of us live in. Nature seems to always creep into our organized, planned, laid out communities; vines growing on power lines, grass in the cracks of asphalt, natural ''weeds'' growing in our well manicured lawns and so on. This to me in either case is not necessarily good or bad, it is what our world has become and is. I find my surroundings especially inspiring, both the serenity of the farm lands and the shadows and textures of the city. As much as I would like to say I would love to live in complete wilderness, I simply could not. And as much as I would like to look out my front window and not see a power line, I somehow can not deny that there is beauty in it. These dichotomies are found within my art at the current time not only within the subject matter, but also within my brush strokes, the content, the preparing of my canvas and what my work seems to be entirely about. I suppose my art is a commentary on our current times, both in subject matter and process as well. I look to the classic painters as well as to the modern movement and can't seem to go in either direction. I am attempting to bridge the two. Holding detail within loose strokes, let drips and the process become transparent and obvious while creating a cohesive piece. I do not paint the 'ideal' landscape as God created it. I find I need to paint the truth, the landscape as I see it, with its flaws, power lines, rows of fences, etc. The same principle lies within my brush stokes and painting process. I can not prepare my canvas as the classic painters do or did, but feel I must push the boundaries on what the surface is like that I am painting on. In my art I try to explore what paint can do, a single brush stroke may represent a house, a tree or even a very large area. Meaning one brush stroke, representing a combination of values, textures, hues, planes, shapes, lines and dots. I have no one set process, and may approach every piece a bit different. Experimentation seems to drive my need to create. I never know exactly how each painting will turn out, I focus more on the process rather than the outcome. However the painting is not complete until I am happy with the results of the process and it becomes visually and emotionally intriguing. I work from photos and on location when possible, and create my compositions from a number of different scenes. Meaning I may create a sky for instance using two or three different references. I work on birch panels or canvas that are treated with layers of paper and glue and I sometimes allow the grain of the wood or texture of the canvas to become an element of my compositions. Each piece is developed initially through extensive sketching and under-painting, sometimes layers of type are used as texture or to push the painting into a certain value, then layers of pushing and pulling of oil and acrylic mixed with layers of semi-transparent glaze finish the painting off.

Art Education

University of Utah, BFA 2004

Awards

2009, 1st Place Beverly Hills, Affaire in the Garden Beverly Hills, CA 2008, Merit Award Springville Museum's 84th Annual Spring Salon Springville, UT 2005, 2nd Place Monte L. Bean Museum Nature's Art Show Provo, UT 2003, Ann Christensen Scholarship University of Utah