Where ART Lives Magazine Volume 3 Number 2 | Page 72

Bob Shepherd
February 2017
What is your first memory of creating art?
I always talk about drawing my Paw Paw when I was about 8 or 9, but I was reminded of another
memory the other day by an elementary school friend at our 50th High School Reunion. We were
in the same Art class in the 4th grade and he said he knew I was an Artist at that early date. I was
probably 9 or 10.
Do you have a favorite piece that you have created? What makes it special to you?
I just painted it. A great gallery in Dallas held a show called “Master’s of the Fall”, and all
entries had to be “Master Studies” or use the techniques of a “Master”. Of course I did Vermeer.
We had visited Delph a few years back and his Studio was a highlight for me. We also saw her in
The Hague, and she was everything I hoped she would be. I became Vermeer for the almost six
months it took to complete the paiting. I used his colors, which are getting hard to find or copy,
his methods, and solicited Geoffrey Laurence to critique the painting when I though I was fin-
ished. If you know Geoff you know I wouked for another month after the critique.
What do you listen to when you paint?
Grey noise, TV, once “Mystic Moods Orchestra” for a portrait.
Do you have a favorite artist you that you admire or that inspires you?
Obviously Vermeer. His use of Indigo and Weld to make the green that is the background for
“Girl” is maybe the most beautiful color I’ve ever seen. What color is Weld?...my secret.
What tool could you not live without?
Light, light, light. I love my Ott Light.
Do you have a favorite subject matter?
I paint it if it’s beautiful...to me. I don’t paint ugly. Usually people, landscapes, and Still Life’s.
What is your preferred medium?
Always oil. I “Paint Like A Venetian”.
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