Artists Registry
Livingston MT United States
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Artist's Statement
Statement of Work
The First Awful Hour
Statement by C. David Swanson
It is a privilege for me to have my painting, The First Awful Hour, included in the Artists Registry of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, commemorating the terrible losses of September 11, 2001.
I was not in New York when this event happened, but of all the images that we saw that dreadful day, this scene affected me with a lasting resonance.
We are, after all, a nation, not merely a state. A nation is a people. And our national character is explicit in the act of these heroic men at that moment. In the face of such horror, tragedy and inferno, they rose up and, reaching into the gloom of chaos, provided us with the first signal, that despite this catastrophe, we shall endure; that despite this blow, we shall rise. Indeed, we were in distress, but in that moment of despair, these men found the threads of hope and displayed them for all to see.
This was an evil act of murder and destruction of immense proportions: the killing of our citizens and friends, the invasion of our country, the razing of one of our great national architectural landmarks; an assault against liberty itself.I confess, however, that I have found it difficult to fully realize the tremendous human loss caused by these events. Neither I, nor anyone close to me, lost a loved one in the disaster. It wasn't until I hit on the idea of incorporating a complete list of the victims in a panel at the right edge of the painting that the enormity of the tragedy began to get through to me. As I read each name, age and place of residence, my seeming numbness was pierced by a shard of understanding of that actual life, an appreciation for that individual. I had a profound experience as I glimpsed the inestimable value of each person--each of us, the living, too. I found new meaning in family, community, nation and humanity, and a much bigger reason for doing the painting engulfed the original motive. (The entire roster of the deceased is printed on gold paper, cut into single columns and decoupaged onto the canvas at the right hand side of the painting.)It is my hope that this painting, and all the expressive works that resulted in the days that followed these horrific events as we struggled to process our collective experience, will remain as beautiful and diverse monuments to the fallen and the lost; reminders that America is more than the sum of its parts. It is the ideal of hope, characteristic of the human spirit itself. And this can never be beaten.
General Artist Statement:
Above all, I am compelled by the America I have experienced in my lifetime. It is not a sequence of experience necessarily, but rather an accumulation of images and meaning that excites me: the red brick of a downtown rail yard, the lone heroic form of a grain elevator on the prairie, the black cars of a coal train slicing through the endless undulations of this enormous land. These recollections combine with impressions of the people, at work or not, amid the structures we make to house ourselves and our businesses. Maybe it’s the solitary figure of a young woman walking down a sun drenched brick block somewhere in Kansas along the old Mother Road. Or maybe it’s a locomotive mechanic peering into the engine bay of the steel behemoth, or teens sitting around a flag pole of the post office in a small town. This is what inspires me as subject matter for the work that I do. I paint and draw, in an effort to capture the ineffable perfection in the fleeting glimpses and glances of light on the moments of life. They will never be repeated, but memory is as good a chronicler as any. My joy comes through the challenge of making pictures of these things with thick oil color, line, and contrast; transmuting nature to canvas and paint, paper and charcoal, or shimmering watercolor. This is my American experience comprised of Dust Bowl ballads, Youngstown steel mills, Hopper’s Sunday mornings, and John Steuart Curry’s baptisms in Kansas... Kerouac's Big Pop Vision, and highway loneliness. So I paint.
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C. DAVID SWANSON
RESUME
CAREER OBJECTIVES
To continue in fine art as an exhibiting painter in oils and watercolor, draftsman, and printmaker, and
to be a teacher of those disciplines, and of my knowledge of art in general, as opportunities arise.
CURRENT VOCATIONAL STATUS
Self employed as a professional fine artist of painting and drawing since 1997, producing both
commissioned and noncommissioned work; occasionally accepting architectural (or other) illustration
projects, and occasional graphic design projects.
EDUCATION
2004 - 2007 BFA, Montana State University, scheduled to graduate May 12, 2007 (GPA to date, 4.0)
2004 - 2005 Louisiana State University, Independent Study (GPA 4.0)
1993 - 1994 Los Angeles City College (Ms. Olga Seem/oil painting) (GPA 4.0)
1970 - 1971 Northern Illinois University (Fine Arts major, oil painting)
1968 - 1970 Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), (Fine Arts major, oil painting)
WORKSHOPS ATTENDED
1999 - Mitch Billis, three day oil painting workshop, Bozeman, MT
2000 - Robert Moore, two day oil painting and color workshop, Chaparral Fine Art, Bozeman, MT
2000 - Robert Moore, one week oil painting/color workshop, Albion, Idaho
SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS
2007 Bank of the Rockies Group Show, Livingston, MT
2007 10th Annual Tour of Gardens & Homes, Bozeman, MT
2007 Students 2007: Juried Exhibit, The Emerson Cultural Arts Center (CAC), Bozeman, MT
2006 Yellowstone Art Museum 38th Art Auction & Exhibition, Billings, MT (juried)
2006 Students 2006: Juried Exhibit, The Emerson CAC, Bozeman, MT
2005 Form Not Function (juried group show), Beall Park Art Center, Bozeman, MT
2005 Art on the Plains 8 Exhibition, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND (juried w/ catalogue)
2005 A Passion for Montana (invitational group show), Chaparral Fine Art, Bozeman,MT
2005 Yellowstone Art Museum 37th Art Auction & Exhibition, Billings, MT (juried w/ catalogue)
2004 Four man show, “Coast to Coast,” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL (invitational)
2003 Yellowstone Art Museum 35th Art Auction & Exhibition, Billings, MT (juried w/ catalogue)
2003 Holter Fund Raising Auction, Helena, MT (invitational)
2003 One man show, “Route 66: A Painter’s Journey” Chaparral Fine Art, Bozeman, MT
p. 2
2002 Holter Fund Raising Auction, Helena, MT (invitational)
2002 ANA 31, Nat. Juried Exhibition, Holter Mus. of Art, Helena, MT (catalogue, Honorable Mention)
2001 Artists Invitational, Grant Kohrs Ranch, Deer Lodge, MT
2001 Two man show, “Recent Works,” Pine Creek Gallery, Paradise Valley, Livingston, MT (invit’l)
2001 ANA 30, National Juried Exhibition, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT (catalogue)
2001 One man show, “New Paintings,” Chaparral Fine Art, Bozeman, MT
2000 ANA 29, National Juried Exhibition, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT (catalogue)
2000 Masters of Montana Group Show, Chaparral Fine Art, Bozeman, MT (invit’l, People’s Choice)
2000 One man show, “Almost Gone,” Pine Creek Gallery, Paradise Valley, Livingston, MT
2000 Artists Invitational, Grant Kohrs Ranch, Deer Lodge, MT
2000 C. M. Russell Art Auction and Exhibition, Great Falls, MT (juried)
1999 One man show, “Western Contemporary Realism,” Studio 10/11, Livingston, MT
1998 One man show, “New Paintings: Contemporary Realism,” Fish Tail Gallery, Livingston, MT
HONORS & AWARDS
2007 Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society
2006 Golden Key International Honor Society
2002 Honorable Mention Award, ANA 31, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
2000 People’s Choice Award, Masters of Montana, Chaparral Fine Art, Bozeman MT
FEATURE ARTICLES
2003 Big Sky Journal, “Music in the Brush,” Scott McMillion
2003 At Home, Bozeman Chronicle, “One Man’s Travels” (“In the Studio”), Michele Corriel
2001 This Week, “Saving Time”, Ron Tschida
2000 Livingston Enterprise, “Artist Teaches Use of Shapes and Color,” Brenda Binkerd
2000 Livingston Enterprise, “Locals to Exhibit Art at C. M. Russell Auction,” Brenda Binkerd
ART WORKS OWNED BY:
(Corporate)
First Interstate Bank, Livingston Branch
Paoli and Brown, Attorneys at Law, Livingston, MT
ERA Western Land Office, Livingston, MT
Wm. R. Mealer, M.D., Clinic, Bozeman, MT
(Public)
Elk City Chamber of Commerce, Elk City, OK
(Museums)
Route 66 Museum, Kingman, AZ
(Private) p. 3
Bill and Tamara Pullman, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Bill and Carol Mealer, Bozeman, MT
Jeff and Susan Bridges, Santa Barbara, CA and Livingston, MT
Peter and Becky Fonda, Bozeman, MT
Jim and JuLee Sievers, Livingston, MT
Ken and Barbara Kaufman, Kennilworth, IL
Dr. Jim Deming, Bozeman, MT
Dr. Michael Monday, Billings, MT
Buzz and Dawn Basini, Livingston, MT
John and Joy McEvans, Livingston, MT
George and Susan Moffat, Tulsa, OK
(partial list)
WORK EXPERIENCE
Self employed as a professional fine artist of painting and drawing since 1997
2002 Long term MAC artist in residency grant, Pine Creek School, Paradise Valley, MT
Taught a nine week course, one day a week, grades 1-8
Architectural illustrator (1968- )
Free lance since 1982, specializing in interior illustration
As an “independent contractor” to several architectural illustrators in Los Angeles (1972-80)
In the employ of Aguilar Associates, Architectural Illustration, Orange, CA (1972)
In the employ of House Of Letters, Commercial Interior Design, Chicago, IL (1970)
In the employ of Studio 70, Architectural Rendering, Algonquin & Rolling Meadows, IL (1968,
1969, 1970)
Professional singer & musician, performer, & recording artist (1966-1991)
Singer, songwriter, guitar, bass, etc., band leader, record producer
Single and album credits for RCA, Arista, Rhino, Automatic, and Back Door Man record labels
Extensive live performance experience, ensemble and solo, small to large venues; television,
and live for television.
Graphic artist (1975-1989)
Free lance: Logos, record albums, posters, magazine and newspaper ads, etc.
REFERENCES
Mr. Siegfried Knop, Los Angeles
Mr. Kenneth Nichols, Los Angeles
Ms. Julia Carpenter, Bozeman
Mr. Glen Laughlin, Los Angeles
Dr. Dawn Basini, Livingston
Fred Paoli, Esq., Livingston
(Letters of reference furnished on request.)