Welcome :
As an artist, I continue to explore the creative world through working in a variety of forms and mediums. This website serves for viewing samples of my work from over the last 25 years. Some of the subject matter is commercial, while other content is commissioned or from personal projects. ~Reese A Sutfin~
Out of a nutshell...
I was born on a Northern California ranch, into the fifth generation of an agricultural heritage where I spent my youth outdoors upon thousands of acres. It took nearly twenty years to understand and fully appreciate such a childhood. After graduating high school, I followed an opportunity, and moved to Los Angeles where I was trained as a makeup and FX artist for the entertainment industry. After a five year run, I was presented with an Emmy award for contributions to Steven King’s, ‘ The Stand.’ The entertainment industry exposed me to the diverse layers of media life and it’s far reaching societal influence. In 1994 I left the industry and returned to Northern California. I started a silk-screening business out of my home and began freelance work as an artist. The entertainment industry had grown to be more glamorous from the outside looking in and I found myself needing time to sort through some new feelings. Spending time in Nature became essential in helping create a shift in focus.
In ‘95’ I joined an art and performance group dubbed ‘the Black Valley.’ We routinely gathered in a theatrical atmosphere with food, drink, musical instruments and improvisation. The work introduced me to playing music and served to be monumental in assisting the redirection of my approach toward the creative arts.
As I became more familiar in the community, opportunities for other types of jobs arrived. I painted large-scale logos on the floor of the Arco Arena. Performed sketch comedies at locale theaters, created a glass etching design for Harley Davison and taught visual art classes at local schools. In 1996, the opportunity to paint a large outdoor mural with the ‘Kids At Risk Program’ shifted my attention toward public murals.
In 1999, I relocated to Santa Cruz, CA to work with childhood friend and artist, Eric Hawkey. Our work together expanded my abilities to commercial and residential art forms. A year later I returned to the foothills to open up an art design studio with companion Terri Lambert. The business focused on residential and commercial murals, illustration and specialty finishing.
In 2004 & 2005, I went to Hawaii to collaborate with Hawkey Designs. Together, we painted two large-scale murals on different buildings occupying the skylines of Honolulu and Waikiki. The exterior murals are five stories high and stretch about hundred feet across. The experience of painting larger than life images, while hanging off the outside of a 10-story building, was mind altering. The murals have grown to be landmarks for the two neighboring cities.
In 2006 I returned to work with Menlo Macfarlane, Aram Larsen and the Black Valley. Together, we produced a collaborative art show entitled, “ 22 Views of a Tibetan Nun on Chinese Soil’, for the Pamela Skinner Gallery, in Sacramento, CA. In addition to the paintings, the show also included a script, performances, and the process of transforming ourselves into individual characters from out of our paintings.
In 2008 I began carrying a camera, native flutes and simple recording equipment on backpacking excursions into primitive wilderness areas of the American Southwest. These remote landscapes offer a sublime beauty and silence, which replenishes the spirit. Photography and music recordings became my natural side companions and a way to share these places with other people. A heart-felt thanks too my Amigo, Mark Oldland.
During 2009 to 2011, I worked as an artist and color consultant for commercial and residential development company. When I was not off traveling around, I spent time in the studio studying the Platonic solids and learning intuitive geometry. The work has inspired new direction and vision. ~ more to come ~ Reese A Sutfin
