Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Pollpeter
Hi Chad, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Chad Pollpeter was born and raised in the mid-west. He attended school at Florida State University, from which he graduated in 1994 with a degree in Art Education. After earning his degree, he moved to Virginia where he began painting and teaching art. In the summer of 2000, Pollpeter relocated to Central Florida, where he currently teaches traditional art classes at Full Sail University.
Chad Pollpeter has been a part of the Orlando local art scene since moving to Orlando. He was a part of OVAL studios and gallery back in the 2000’s and later a part of FAVO studios for a couple of years. He currently paints from his home studio. He has shown throughout the South Eastern United States. He has collectors all across the United States and abroad.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
If there is anything that I might struggle with as an artist is that I am partially color blind. I did not find this out until I was in my 30’s. This however, did help me to understand how to better approach my work. I now often render my paintings in black and white before going back and adding the color. This just helps create more consistencies in my color application.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a painter who works with acrylic on canvas. My work is influenced by surrealistic painter such as Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Zdzislaw Beksinski. I am also heavily influenced by science fiction and fantasy imagery. I tend to paints intuitively, in doing so the meaning of the paintings develops with the painting itself. The imagery can reflect aspects of philosophy, politics, or just for visual entertainment. My work tends to reflect this type of fantasy type imagery. I guess, I just try to paint things that look interesting and maybe a little unusual.
I am very happy with the fact that I have been able to show and sell my work consistently over the last 25 years. I still feel amazed and truly appreciate anytime that someone likes a piece enough to take it home with them.
I guess I am know for my “style” of how my paintings are rendered. I have had quite a few people tell me that when they see my work, even in a group show, they know it is “a Pollpeter” before they even look at the label or tag. I tend to have a pretty smooth application of paint. Meaning the paint is applied in a very thin manner. Even though there might be many, many layers of paint, it is all done through dry brushing and washes. Even if there are as many as 20-30 layers of paint, once can usually still see the texture of the canvas. Rendering is something that I would say is a strength in my work. Not that I paint in a completely photo-realistic way, but I guess it is realistic enough.
What matters most to you?
My family. I was lucky enough to meet my wife at a young age (19 yrs old) and she has been stuck with me ever since (lol). But seriously, I enjoy my family. My wife Heidi and me have two children. Kristin 23 and Matthew 20. One of my favorite things in life has been to listen to music while painting in my home studio. In doing this while my children were growing up, it was always special to me when either one of them would come into the studio and just hang out for a bit. Sometimes, when they were little, they might want to paint….and so we would paint together. Sometimes as they got older, they would come in to sit and talk or just listen to music. These were always special moments for me.
Pricing:
- The pricing of my paintings depends of the size. It ranges from a couple hundred dollars for smaller 11″ x 14″ paintings to a couple thousand for a 36″ x 48″ painting.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chadpollpeter.com
- Instagram: @pollpeter_art
- Facebook: Chad Pollpeter
Image Credits
All images are of my artwork taken by myself or of me taken by my daughter Kristin Pollpeter. No credits need to be mentioned.
