Jack G. Brauer
Inspiration for my art is provided from growing up near rural areas in our nations’ heartland. Relatives were owners of small family farms that I visited often, even helping with chores at times. I learned firsthand how difficult survival was back in the depression years
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My paintings reflect life in rural America, away from large cities. I work to expresses how I feel about the people I have met and the places I have traveled while publisher of an outdoor magazine. Specifically, I am inspired by the people who live and work on small family farms and the rich history of our countryside.
When I paint I do so with a strong connection to my subject matter. I smell the pine trees and freshly plowed fields. I feel the chill of winter upon my face and I am struck by the beauty of autumn leaves. I see the satisfaction for a job well done on the faces of the community of craftsman who constructed the barn now faded by a century of exposure.
I paint as tribute to the small family farm. In doing so, I try to capture the seemingly endless shades of color on a faded cedar barn and the sculptural beauty of the retired tractor that rests prominently along the fence line. My landscapes reflect those nostalgic times and I’ll continue to paint them as long as those cherished memories are not forgotten. At age 75, there are times when I feel older than those old barn boards on farm buildings.
Lifelong Interest in Drawing
As a child I always loved to draw, yet never took any classes in art at school. At age 20 I was asked to paint some signs for a warehouse and really enjoyed it. I loved drawing letters and numbers along with the design of sign work. Working the night shift allowed me to open my own sign shop during morning hours. I rented an old dairy building for $1.00 a day. That led to a part-time position with the local sign shop. Moved on from that to selling insurance. This allowed me plenty of spare time for hunting and fishing as I really enjoyed the outdoors.
The Deer & Deer Hunting magazine was an interesting adventure which allowed me to use some of my artistic talents. As publisher part of my responsibilities were to design marketing materials and also help with layout and design of the magazine. At age 50 I sold the magazine and retired which allowed me to spend a lot of time roaming around on back roads with my camera. Photography was my new interest learning how to compose photos along with patience waiting for the right light conditions.
At age 69 health problems prevented me from my favorite activities of enjoying the outdoors on foot, so I started to draw again. I did a lot of pen & ink work, and as years went by I decided to add some color to my work. That was the start of my love for watercolors. I didn’t realize that watercolor was a difficult medium to learn. I used the internet to learn all about painting with watercolors. Tried acrylics and oils, but always came back to the magic of mixing paint with water as I enjoyed the unexpected results this medium provides. My specialty is pen and ink sketches highlighted with a splash of watercolor. This work has become very popular.
As years passed I discovered that my art was enjoyed by folks who were one or two generations from the great depression years. I guess there is a little bit of love for nostalgic memories in all of us. I’m thankful for all the wonderful comments received about my art over the years by fellow artists and people who have purchased my art. Some of these comments are shown below. To contact me, my email address is www.jackbrauer@new.rr.com.
Comments Received
I think your art triggers in our minds memories of our early lives, like being able to, just for a moment, go back to a kinder time, rich with family, tradition, and “The way we were”.
Kris S. Atlanta, GA
Many, many of your pieces show “Nostalgia” an uncomplicated time in our lives.
Arthur M. Midland, MI
“Jack, Your art displays ‘Nostalgia’ that triggers in us memories of yesterday. And, just for a moment, we are able to travel back to a kinder time, rich with family, tradition, and ‘the way we were’. “
Lavonne H, Tucson, AZ
”Mr. Brauer, Your style is simple, non-cluttered but rich in color that evokes smells, feelings of a gentler time. Yet there remains a sense of mystery, the ‘hidden’, there but not seen, surrounding all of us if we just take the time to be still and inhale.”
C. Stedl, Rice Lake, WI
“Your art touches people with the real, the tangible and, at the same time, stirs in the viewer a sense of beauty, of nature, of memories. of things gone by. NOSTALGIA. You, Jack, paint from the heart what you have felt, seen and experienced and share that with us.”
S. Smithland, Omro, WI
Your style is simple, non-cluttered but rich in colors, evokes smells, feelings, a gentler time....and yet has a certain sense of mystery, the “hidden”...there but not seen... not in an abstract way...but what is real and tangible, surrounding all of us if we just take the time to be still and inhale!
G. Schotzke, Ames, IA
Your art touches people with the real, the tangible and yet stirs in the viewer a sense of beauty, nature, memories of what was, what could have been and is yet to come. You paint from the heart...things you have experienced, things you have felt and seen. I miss the heartland.
Linda M. Phoenix, AZ
Jack G Brauer joined Fine Art America on December 30th, 2009.
