Questions For: Stuart Denker 

NEW TIMES What medium do you work in?

DENKER I've narrowed myself down to acrylic, usually on canvas.

NEW TIMES What do you like about that medium?

DENKER Acrylic dries reasonably quick, and I don't have to drag my first through wet paint. My school training emphasized watercolor and gouache, which all apply to acrylics. Also, I don't like being in a cloud of volatile solvents. In times past, you faced the possibility of skin and lung cancer, so it didn't seem like a proper way to spend the second half of my life.

NEW TIMES What is the aim of you artwork?

DENKER I'm not an evangelic, trying to teach. I paint scenes, people, and situations that are jaw-dropping in my own experience. I try to go back and assemble images, whether visual or emotional, to support those experiences. I am a traditionalist; I haven't joined the rank of the cutting-edge. It's not my voice. My choice of subjects are what are seen outside my abode or places I've visited: Greece, Mexico, Crete, and Italy. I have had memorable experiences when I've traveled, and I celebrate them in some of my work. I don't have the foggiest idea of what the buying public is looking for; I'm not a commercial artist, but I get everything I want out of it.

NEW TIMES How has the open art studio experience been?

DENKER It was a good year. I had virtually the same number of visitors and buyers as last year. My expectations were scaled to low. It's not a boom time unless you are a celebrity. Only a couple people make a studio a destination, mostly people from the surrounding neighborhood, but I value the event. There would be virtually no visitations without the foundation's (Arts Obispo) support and promotion.