Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Rucker.
Hi Matthew, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I was very young when my family unofficially decided I was probably going to end up as an artist someday. I think a lot of my upbringing happened with that in mind.
By the time I reached 20 years old, I’d made that decision myself and stepped right into it. Fast forward several years and I met the woman I’d eventually marry. She became both my muse and business manager and took me from starving artist to a thriving and happy.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road to becoming an artist certainly wasn’t smooth, but it was an adventure. The struggles I’ve faced have given me so much insight, character, and foundation upon which to build that I’m a much better artist and person as a result. The early years were difficult in finding the time to commit to painting. I often had more than one job.
It gets pretty tricky trying to start a career as an artist when it’s hard to paint enough hours a week to even be considered a part-time gig. That also made it difficult to choose a direction, so for a long while my art was all over the place.
The biggest changes to my career took place almost simultaneously when I started painting full-time and started my current series of paintings. Of course, the biggest challenge I face is that I’m severely colorblind. That makes being a painter pretty darn difficult. Luckily, I have a fantastic wife/manager who helps keep me on track with the right colors.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We live in a loud, busy, and chaotic world. Someone or something is fighting for our attention at every turn. Every frame of our vision is crammed with so much stimuli, that it’s hard to know what to look at – what to see. It’s hard to find peace. My paintings are my response to that chaos.
Balance is a series of hyperminimalist (hyperrealism + minimalism) oil paintings that embrace simplicity, lightness, and tranquility. These paintings are designed to be easy on both the eye and the mind. Each painting features a large area of ambient space in a gentle gradation of a soft pastel or tinted grey.
This eliminates context, setting, and the noise of a background, and instead creates a neutral setting for the painting’s subject. These paintings emerge as a result of my search for peace, but they are also very personal to me. The singular subject in each painting is a portrait of someone dear to me.
The animal/subject is chosen before I choose the person it will represent – not the other way around. Once I’ve sketched an image onto the canvas and my palette is prepared, I then decide ‘who’ the painting will be. Some are self-portraits, some depict my dog as something other than a dog, but most are portraits of close friends and family.
Once I choose someone (or a specific aspect of someone) I focus only on that person and my positive feelings for them the entire time I put brush to canvas. This way, I can transfer my feelings toward that person onto the canvas, adding a significant amount of emotional and personal content to each painting.
What makes you happy?
Honestly, what makes me happiest is my work. I genuinely feel like I have the best job in the world.
Being an artist is just as much what I am as it is what I do. Every part of my life contributes to and is derived from my work as an artist. e.g. I paint a lot of birds, so I keep a lot of bird feeders in my yard, so I’m always surrounded by a wide variety of birds, which inspires me to paint more birds.
My life is filled with really cool cycles like that.
Pricing:
- $40 Is the price of a digital print of one of my paintings
- $950 is a general starting point for my original oil paintings – 11″ x 14″
Contact Info:
- Website: matthewrucker.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewruckerart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthewruckerart
