RIP Ken Auster painter teacher extraordinaire

Several times in this blog I have spoken about painter and teacher Ken Auster and how he influenced my work.

He died recently, what a loss to the art community.

Today I got an email from his wife asking for some words about him.

This is what I wrote.

I had the priviledge of participating in a workshop with Ken in North Carolina some time ago.

I am a watercolorist, but an oil painter wanna be.

I am still working at that many years later, but some of the things Ken said to me I repeat to myself and to others over and over.

One issue he pointed out to me that made an immediate impact.

“it’s called painting not scrubbing” 

I was trying to paint in oils like a do in watercolors! 

I’m pretty messy, so was thriled to see his palette and suitcase at the workshop, finnally meeting someone worse than me.

His palette!

And here many years later when I’m painting around any one else, or when I’m in the gallery and someone points out that I have paint on my clothes, I immediate respond with a queote from him “all my clothes either have paint on them or will have paint on them.”

When I talk about people who have helped inspire the way I work I always mention Ken in this way.

Ken Auster was a cocky, surfer dude, that was a great teacher and an amazing artist."

Here are a couple of his paintings.

He made a great impact on me.