Artist's Statement

Just Trying To Leave Something Behind

I read a statement somewhere several years ago that said, “You only live as long as the last person who remembers you. That touched me profoundly. I have no children or grandchildren and my immediate family is aging like me and so one day, I’ll be forgotten. My 50 year career as a graphic designer has left a mark of the Wichita community and the Midwest as a whole, but it too will someday disappear. So, I decided the best way I could leave a legacy of some kind was to start painting. In 2015 I began the journey. I hadn’t painted since my senior year at Wichita State University in 1973 and frankly, I hated to paint. I was a drawer and couldn’t make the brush do what a pencil could do. I didn’t paint again until 2015. Since then I have had numerous shows and become a member of Gallery 12 and Carriage Factory Art Gallery. I have sold over 500 paintings in that time. Paintings of all sorts of subject matter, a couple of different styles all residing in homes across America. All with the intent of leaving something behind.

I paint less these days as a couple of life changing events have darkened my days and dampened my desire to create. My most recent show at Gallery 12 was called, “The Fire Still Burns.” The pieces were symbolic of the days I experienced in my most recent life and forced me to honor the commitment to the show. A resurrection of a sort. Not sure I’m there yet, but with this current show at the Clayworks, there’s still time to wonder. I used to say that “I paint because I can’t play guitar.” Though I’ll never be able to play, I’ll hopefully always be able to paint. In the end, I’ve accomplished my goal. I have left something behind.

Bob Neace – Artist Designer