Marv Espe
|
Marv Espe's art career began in 1965 after a brief five-year stint as an elementary teacher. His formal art training includes time at the American Academy of Art in Chicago as well as at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
From 1965 until 1977 he was employed by Jostens Inc. of Owatonna, Minnesota as staff artist in their Graphic Arts Division. In 1977, Espe with his wife Myrna and two children moved to northern Minnesota where for 20 years he was engaged in painting a wide range of local subjects as well as illustrating for numerous publishers on a free-lance basis.
In 1997 he and his wife moved to northern Wisconsin and he continues to create beautiful art there. To date he has produced and sold well more than 800 original paintings. Well over 800 of his illustrations have also been published within the past thirty-two years. He has also conducted painting workshops for numerous art organizations.
His paintings have been included in many group and individual exhibitions thoughout the upper midwest, and are seen in private as well as corporate collections throughout the U.S. and Canada.
National organizations that have used his art include: The Artist's Magazine, The American Artist Magazine, National Arbor Day Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, National Rifle Association and others.
Espe's work is also featured in two new art instructional books on the techniques of working in pen and ink:
Sketching Your Favorite Subjects In Pen & Ink
By: Claudia Nice
Publisher: North Light Books
The Technical Pen
By: Gary Simmons
Publisher: Watson Goptill
A select number of his paintings have been published as limited edition prints.
Espe works in the privacy of his home-studio near the shores of one of northern Wisconsin's beautiful lakes, but has access to the busy, competitive world of free-lance illustration via phone and fax machine.
His artwork can be seen at the following locations:
- ART DOCK - Duluth, Minnesota
- BLACK IRIS GALLERY - Spooner, Wisconsin
- KELLEY GALLERY - Stillwater, Minnesota
- WOOD DUCK - Haward, Wisconsin
- BRANDT'S RESTAURANT - Roseau, Minnesota
- KD's RESTAURANT - Solon Springs, Wisconsin
- ESPE STUDIO - Solon Springs, Wisconsin
Marv's Philosophy of Art
"I do not take full credit for the work I produce since I believe I am a product of my creator, God. As His servant, I create visual impressions on two dimensional surfaces by using various artistic tools such as pencils, pens, brushes, painting knives etc. The visuals I create are my interpretations of the things I see or have experienced during my entire lifetime.
I have been uniquely created with a prescribed set of genes enabling me to produce art as only I can. No other human can see, think or even hold a brush exactly as I do. Therefore my work is exclusive, yet without credit to me. Both my interest in art and my desire and ability to produce it are a direct result of who I am. The things that attract my attention are also a derivative of my genetic and environmental background. I am attracted to the subjects I paint by various stimuli; unusual lighting effects, most frequently. Other phenomenon may also catch my attention on the spur of the moment as well. To first feel the thrill of a thing enables me to more properly share the beauty of it with others by describing it visually on canvas or paper.
It is my joyful privilege to seek to serve my Maker by serving His highest creation - mankind. I do this by helping others become more keenly aware of the beauty in things around them."
VIEW
MARV ESPE ORIGINALS
MARV ESPE PRINTS
|
