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 "Morning Sentries" 2002 Arts for the Parks Top 100 |
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The experience of taking a blank canvas and applying paint, that in turn becomes a unique image of something beautiful is difficult, if not impossible, to put into words. Creating the images that I do, has taken years of learning and effort. My accomplishments have been built on the work and efforts of many that have gone before me, and those that have lent me a guiding hand. From my learning and lots of practice, has come an ability that can only be described as magic. The techniques can be delineated and the use of color or composition can be analyzed, but when I paint a spiritual bond is formed between the subject, the painting and myself. When a painting really " works" I am left with a feeling that something beyond me has taken place. Nature is a demanding teacher. You are presented with an abundance of beauty and detail from which you must learn to discern what is important as you select what you will paint. These slices of nature then become a test. The test is one of both technical skills and the ability to capture a moment of time and emotion. From the effort comes the magic and always the learning. Creating works of art is a time-honored tradition that I am grateful to be part of. It serves as a meaningful way for people to experience the world around them. I am humbled each time someone is moved by something I have captured on canvas. Most of all I am thankful that I experience "magic" as part of being an artist. Robert Hagberg's love of and talent for art dates back to his early childhood. Though his efforts focused on art in both high school and college, Robert was encouraged to pursue a career that was more assured than art. His desire to paint, therefore, was secondary to the eventual completion of a Masters Degree in Counseling and Human Development. Robert worked in human services for a number of years, and then began a career in film and video doing lighting and camera work. In effect, a television screen became a canvas for him. During these years Robert produced two or three paintings a year. In 1992, Robert began to work toward making art his full time profession, producing a greater quantity of artwork and concentrating on developing his style. Eventually Robert and his family moved to Buffalo, Minnesota where they now live on a small hobby farm where Robert can spread out in his 1200 square foot studio and gain inspiration from looking out over the wooded acreage. In 1998, Robert began working in oils as opposed to his previous favorite acrylics. He has, in his course of self-development, studied with the well-known landscape painters, Jim Wilcox, Wm. Scott Jennings, Scott Christiansen, and Michel Albrechtsen. As a result, his work has evolved from almost photo-realistic to a style that is clearly realistic yet with a flowing, more "painterly" feel. Robert works from both plein-aire studies and his own reference photos gathered through years of photography. 2006: Salon International Competition, paintings
"Navaho Man" and "Laughing Singer" |
