Today we’d like to introduce you to Glen DePasse.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve been a high grading art student since I was a kid all the way through college. My first job after school was as a paste up artist eventually becoming the art director. Twelve years later I was distracted by other interests and the need to earn more money. After 7 years in sales I realized I hadn’t been who I was meant to be. I resigned and set up an art and photography studio in my home. I was accepted to the Gasparilla Art Festival and won the Emerging Artist award then went on to five other shows winning five more awards. The City of Largo just purchased two of my original pieces for the new City Hall. I’m currently focusing on watercolor, oil on canvas and photography. My photo “Early morning Belleair Country Club” is featured in a two page spread in Tampa Bay Magazine’s October issue.,
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Everyone knows being an artist can be a struggle. The desire to put your heart and soul into an image conflicts with the urge to create just for the sake of creating something salable. This is a trap that drains your creativity. As I’m now about to turn 70 I’ve learned to surrender to my instinctive spirit and be content with that. Life is too short right?
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Well, I don’t want to be pigeonholed so I ignore gallery owners request to stick to one style. I possess a nice art library and if you know anything about the most famous (not necessarily financially secure) artists they were all interested multiple mediums. These are the true creatives, the mavericks. I am one. I would say I specialize in radical color combinations and composition of shapes, for my abstracts anyway. The public is most aware of my mixed media photography. I manipulate various fabrics across a 4’x7’ vertical plane via armatures and monofilament line. The fabric may have airbrushed shapes added prior to being photographed. I achieve depth and reflection by setting the fabric up over black glass. This set up is then creatively front or back lit the photographed. Photoshop is only used to crop and mirror the image. These set ups can take hours to assemble. Proud of? Ha! Back in college at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh I was an A+ sculpture student specializing in large welded steel pieces. Several pieces were twice stolen from the main studio. Friends would come up to me and say “Hey, I’’m pretty sure I saw one of your sculptures in this dorm room”. I think what separates me from others is I have no fear of risk and experimentation. That and my approach is always a spiritual experience, I truly get into a Zen during the creative process. I listen to very inspiring music and work late at night knowing I won’t be interrupted. It may be strange but I look at each piece almost as if it’s one of my children, separating with a piece can have a sadness to it.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Yes, if you ever get a desire to give to those in need consider the art program at your local high school. The schools art budget gets little support and discovery of their own creative nature is critical to those kids growth.
