Art & Life with G. Eric Slayton

Today we’d like to introduce you to G. Eric Slayton,

Eric, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Like most artists I was constantly drawing as early as I can remember. In school I was always in trouble with my teachers for drawing in the margins of my text books. I would draw cowboys drawing their guns or riding horses off the edge of the pages as in old flip card action scenes.

I sold my first pen and ink drawing when I was fourteen, was president of the High School Art Club and got a job as a portrait artist at Six Flags Over Texas for a Summer when I was seventeen, I got lots and lots of practice.

After High School I joined the Air Force just to get beyond the Texas boarders and experience some of what the World had to offer. I was stationed in Tucson for two years and studied art at Arizona University, then stationed outside of Madrid, Spain for two years and studied Academic Drawing at night at the Escuela de los Artes, University de Madrid. It was an honor for me to be accepted at twenty-one years old.

After the Service I moved to Los Angeles went to art school and pursued a twenty-five-year career in Commercial Illustration and Advertising. When I was forty-eight and burned-out with advertising, I turned to fine art painting and haven’t looked back.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am an oil painter and primarily my paintings are done in the studio where I can control the conditions lighting and so forth. Some collectors think that an artist must suffer for their art . . . and there is always plenty of that in other aspects of this profession. I do not believe one needs to suffer frostbite in order to understand the nuances of light on snow,
I paint “wet into wet,” using canvas or panels and strive to finish a painting in one or two sessions depending on size but at this age it’s more like four or five sessions.
I enjoy painting just about everything from land and seascapes, wildlife to figures and faces. However, if I had to choose only one subject to paint for the rest of my life it would be scenes with water . . . rivers, lakes, creeks and the sea. I believe we are all subconsciously drawn to water . . . either because it’s our place of origin or simply because it offers such feelings of tranquility.
Whatever my subject may be the result will always reflect my mood or emotion in regards to that particular subject.
The only thing that really matters is the work itself and the feeling it produces for both myself and the viewer.

What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
Well it is true that painting is not a spectator’s sport and one must retreat into their own head in order to visually say what they feel. However, quality art is not created in a vacuum. As artists we must communicate with others of our creative species.

Get to know other artists in your area, have paint-outs in plein air, have coffee and conversation away from the studio, and be open to critiques and advice from other artists whom you admire. Join local art associations and just get out of the studio sometimes.

No matter how good you get . . . never become aloof.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My work has been shown throughout the United States in as many galleries one can count. Most of those galleries have come and gone over the years but many have endured the ups and downs of the economy and support their artists fatefully.

One such gallery is the Waterhouse Gallery in Santa Barbara, California. They have been in the art business for over 35 years and I have shown with them for 26 of those years. I am also in the La Quinta Gallery in California, the Mountain Artist Gallery in Prescott, Arizona as well as my Studio Gallery in Prescott and my website.

I feel art collectors and art lovers in general can support artists and the arts overall by continuing to purchase art and patronize museums, art shows, gatherings and events, I believe success for any artist insures future success for the visual arts in general. And of course, it would be great if someone buys my work!

Contact Info:

• Address: 2019 W. View Point Road
  Prescott, Arizona 86303
• Website: www.slaytonfineart.com
• Phone: 928.308.4854
• Email: slaytonart@cableone.net

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.