Dwight V. Strong
(1916 - 2002)
" In my painting, I have known from the beginning, what I wanted to do. First of all, the painting should be strong and clear, like Vincent’s. I wish I could find my forms and spots like Picasso. I believe in some of the classic rules and efforts at overall composition like Cezanne, and like Cezanne, that these rules could and should be broken.
Now you have the names of the artists I admire most. I hope you will find traces of them in my work. My main teachers who helped me grow up as an artist were Gerald Brommer (often inspiring) and Jerry Stitt.
A painting of mine is not intended to be a copy of nature, but to show my way of seeing the natural scene, distilled, maybe wrenched around, to make it, out of full reality into “a painting” that stands firmly as itself."
(From the "Orange II" catalog - Orange II exhbition at the Judy Schroeder Gallery, Orange, CA, 2002)
Dwight painting in the Yosemite high country
Dwight and I share a birthday, August 7. We had family celebrations of our birthdays together a number of times (his step-daughter, Stephanie, and I have shared many years together). We also painted together in some beautiful locations in California - Yosemite, Mammoth Lakes, San Francisco, Convict Lake, Bodie, Gualala, Sausalito, Tiburon, and Mendocino. At the request of Dwight's wife, Blossom, I have put together this website to share some of his paintings and make them available for purchase.
Dwight started painting late in his life after being encouraged by his friend, artist Millard Sheets, while on a trip to Africa. Once started, Dwight put much effort, time and energy into painting in watercolor. He attended numerous watercolor workshops in the US, Mexico and Europe, taught by excellent artists and teachers, such as Gerald Brommer, Millard and Tony Sheets, Robert E. Wood, George Post, Rex Brandt, Dong Kingman, Robert Wade, Milford Zornes, Christopher Schink, Frank Webb, Brooke Temple, Charles Reid, Iona Hepper, Joyce Pike and Peggy Gray. For years, Dwight attended classes with Jerry Stitt in Sausalito. With all of these influences, Dwight developed a style that was very much his own. About his style, Dwight had the following note on a painting from one of our painting trips, "Rob and I painted side by side, but very different paintings. Style is natural and individual and can completely alter the painting from the scene. It's hard to see your own style; people tell you about it."
-- Rob R. Robinson
