We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Trevor Stickel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Trevor, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
My first love of art came when I saw the album art for Kiss’ “Destroyer” – At a young age I started drawing portraits, mostly just for beer money, and as I got a bit older, I transitioned my skills in to airbrushing hockey helmets and Harleys. One day, the owner of the shop that clear coated my work asked if I’d ever thought about painting on canvas. I gave it try and quickly fell in love with the ability to create my own concepts, on a flat surface,and I’ve never looked back.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was born in Edmonton, Alberta to a family in the cattle industry, and I spent my younger years playing hockey, drawing portraits and painting helmets and Harleys.
I decided to transfer these skill to canvas after reading “According to the Rolling Stones”. Two weeks later I finished my first canvas portrait of Mick Jagger, aptly titled “Please allow me to introduce myself”, which forever changed the direction of my career in the art world.
I specialize in music inspired pop-realism paintings (acrylic on canvas) that strive to capture the legendary moments, powerful ideas, and the raw emotion of music. My work is heavily influenced by rock and roll and rock culture. I often say that I’m a wildlife painter, but instead of the birds and the bees…I paint Keith Richards. I’ve spent my entire career in the pursuit of creating the visual equivalent of Ted Nugent’s riff in Stranglehold, a lyrical metaphor for the valiant quest to
capture the ethereal power in the rebellion, riot, and romance of rock and roll
I often combine realism, pop-art, impressionism and other disciplines of art to express the feelings and emotions of the subject or musical inspiration. This approach allows me to explore the artistic side of these pieces, while paying additional homage to some of my favorite visual artists.
The title of each piece is also often the most important piece of the puzzle for my work. I try to choose a lyric that I believe personifies the subject or my feeling toward that subject, and then strive to create an image and feeling that takes the viewer to that emotional state of mind. The titles are mostly a lyric from the song of inspiration. If the viewer is a fan of the song, they should almost hear the lyric or feel the emotion of the lyric when looking at the piece. Knowing the title completes the emotional connection to the painting.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
The industry is tough, and the business side can be even tougher. It’s important to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, and that can support you through the journey.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I really enjoy meeting collectors and other people who are equally inspired by music – I’ve heard some incredible stories about people’s concert experiences and how art and music resonates with them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stickmanfineart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stickmanfineart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stickmanfineart
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@StickmanFineArt
- Other: I’m currently on a North American tour, dates can be found on my website at: https://www.stickmanfineart.com/events Upcoming dates: Nov 17&18 – Tampa, FL at Michael Murphy Gallery Nov 25 – Edmonton, AB at Sterling Gallery Dec 8 & 9 – Las Vegas at Derubies Fine Art New dates being added!
Image Credits
Credit: Stickman Fine Art Inc.