Ken Auster

"Swarming"
16 x 20, (c) Ken Auster

Readers who are fellow painters may know that we lost "one of our own" earlier this year--Ken Auster. I was lucky enough to take a workshop with Ken some time ago, and I loved his approach. Sometimes (often?) irreverent, Ken bragged that he never cleaned his brushes.

Up Close and Personal

Painting by Ken Auster
9 x 12, oil on panel

It is said that a good painting should reward the viewer in many different ways. One way a painting does that is to give you a totally different experience when viewed from a distance than it does when viewed up close. I own a painting by Ken Auster (a California Impressionist painter) that is a great example of this phenomenon. The top photo shows Ken's painting from a reasonable distance. It is clearly recognizable as a scene of the light rail line leading to Uptown Charlotte. Quite realistic and representational. The next few photos show the painting from a close-up vantage point. What a change--it is