Today we’d like to introduce you to Kent Bond.

Hi Kent, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I was originally trained in watercolor by a family friend Fran Hubbard. She had a painting published on the cover of Readers Digest in the 1950’s. I realized looking at one of her paintings at the age of 9 that someone had to have made it. I was fascinated to say the least. My mother arranged for lessons in watercolor. I loved Disney, comic books, I copied Michelangelo and Da Vinci drawings. Howard Pyle and N C Wyeth were my gods. Taught myself oil painting in high school, attended CCAC in Oakland now the College of the Arts. Graduated in 1975. Continued painting.
Grad school at UC Berkeley, received an MA in 1979. Continued painting.
Opened a yoga center in 1996, continued to paint.
I am now at the top of my game. I work in watercolor, oil, acrylic, ink. Call me analogue.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

Other than a few friends- Artists , confidants, I’ve worked on my own. Being a student of painting is a rich life. An interior life. Museums,galleries, periodicals and books have been my nourishment as well as inspiration. Although I haven’t shown much the work and my studio has always proved a welcome sanctuary.
Challenges are merely the staid and dull times between the thrill of being in relationship with materials, and ideas.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

I consider myself a figurative painter. A modern painter. I work in traditional media. Mythology both ancient and modern, its ties to our psyches and how these myths are played out on every street corner in waking life. I am a conduit and conductor for visual iconography. I enjoy a certain amount of narrative. The figure is us. An endless source of fascination, possibility, inspiration. It’s impossible but it’s important for me to attempt.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?

There is always something waiting to surprise me in the studio. The journey never ends.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Kentbond1
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.bond.7

Image Credits

All photos by Kent Bond