Stephen Rowe

Working from his studio in Los Angeles, CA, Stephen specializes in large-scale modern abstract paintings.

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Behind the Tools

Stephen has been a successful selling artist for over 20 years and continues to explore his passion. As a young boy from the outback town of Broken Hill, Australia, Stephen showed an early talent for drawing, painting, finish carpentry and other artistic endeavors. This energy and passion for the graphic arts was temporarily put on the back burner. Stephen actively participated in boxing and was sponsored by Suzuki for competitive motocross racing, before embarking on a subsequent fifteen year international career as a professional classical ballet dancer. Upon his retirement from the ballet world, he went back to his family's professional trade as a finish carpenter, for which he was trained. At the same time, Stephen continued to pursue his passion for art as another creative outlet.  This, however, was not the only avenue he found to release this energy. In addition to painting, Stephen is a country music singer/songwriter, signed to a record label in Australia (Red Rebel Music). He released his first music CD Broken Hill in February 2007 following with a single duet with Australia's Queen of Country Music, Tania Kernaghan, called 'Let's Fall in Love Again'. Stephen's most recent album, which was released in 2009, is titled 'Restless Soul'.

It is imaginable that the reader will think the resume of this artist may appear at least exaggerated, and possibly fictitious.  However, all of the descriptions of Stephen's journey are in fact very true. It is important to make note of this, as every element of Stephen's life influences the next, and is thus reflected in his artwork.

ARTWORK

Stephen studied art in school and was inspired and learned from some of the most renowned artists in Australia and around the world, such artist as Pro-Hart, also from Broken Hill. In addition, during his ballet career, he was fortunate enough to work with Lindsay Kemp, an admired  dance teacher, choreographer, director, and artist. These individuals and others certainly had a marked impression on Stephen's aesthetic outlook.

As a native of Australia, Stephen’s work is partly influenced by dot art, leavened by the impression of the working class culture from Broken Hill, the hard scrabble mining town that formed his vision. He combines pointillism with abstract backgrounds, using media such as acrylic paint on canvas and wood. Hidden written messages lie beneath the veil of dots, which mask the emotions of life. Connecting movement, color and mood, Stephen departed from the detailed pointillist technique to what he calls the 'loose' dots. Each piece capturing the emotion of that moment in time in his continuous search for happiness.