STEVE KUENNEN
My blogs
| Industry | Arts |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Phone#: 406.698.3271 |
| Location | Billings, Montana |
| Introduction | Steve Kuennen received a BFA (with distinction), Illustration in 2001 from Art Center College of Design and an MFA, Illustration in 2006 from California State University Long Beach. Steve worked as a principle illustrator for Ridgley Curry & Associates and has been a freelance illustrator for over thirty years. Notable clients include Pacific Gas & Electric, California Breeders Association, State of California, Coldwell Banker, Prudential Real Estate and the Phoenix Zoo. His illustrations have been published by Peterson Publications and Weider Publications LLC. Steve has taught color theory classes for Art Center School of Design in Pasadena, California and landscape painting in Provence, France. For the last ten years he has taught private lessons for Buffalo Art Press, a fine art studio specializing in printmaking. In 2011 Steve taught a monoprint class for the Yellowstone Art Museum. Steve Kuennen was raised in Bozeman, Montana. Since high school he has lived in 7 western states and Baja, Mexico. Steve is currently represented by the Meadowlark Gallery in Billings, Montana. |
| Interests | The focus of my art has always been in the strength of drawing and its relationship to shape and color. My goal is always intent, message, technique and design. I believe the key to creating art lies not only in the technological know how but also in the power of the image and the concept behind it. Printmaking has given me the tools to make art with my own sensibilities. I enjoy combining two or more techniques together to create a singular statement. Many of my linoleum block prints use up to seven different blocks that are printed with over fifty colors. Each serigraph has been printed with multiple layers, similar to how an oil painting is applied to canvas. I work with computer programs like Photoshop and Illustrator and design my prints by working on multiple layers at one time. Many of my pencil drawings have been digitized and then, using a laser, cut into linoleum blocks which I then hand print over serigraph imagery. I like to combine traditional intaglio processes with more modern digital intaglio techniques. My prints are enhanced with chine-cole, gold leaf and embossing. I work in the realm of imagination, utilizing the traditions of art history and my visual knowledge of the contemporary American West. I am strongly influenced by the quiet effervescence in landscape prints by traditional Japanese Ukiyu-e style artists such as Hiroshige and Hokusai. I also study the paintings of American artists such as Thomas Moran, George Innes and Thomas Cole. The four paintings I have included in this exhibit are to illustrate the work I do alongside the fine art prints. I think it is important to see the contrast and similarities between painting with oil and using various printmaking techniques to describe a similar intent. |