The following was submitted by the artist, January 2013.
Loren D. Adams, Jr. is in his 46th year as a professional Fine Arts Visionary Surrealist Artist. He developed a profound interest in painting at the age of nine years old. One of these very early original Art-works found it's way into a major retrospective exhibition at the R.W. Norton Art Gallery in February of 1979.
Loren Adams studied water colors with Marion Young, his neighbor who also taught Art at a middle school in Corona, California. He learned privately with her during the spring & summer of 1956-57 and still enjoys pure transparent water color using the techniques he learned from her. In 1961, he enrolled in the Fashion and Illustration correspondence course through Famous Artist Schools of Westport, Connecticut. He was disappointed to learn that, although he was one of the founders; Norman Rockwell would not be his teacher. Adams still refers to the marvelous text books for points of execution in the human form for many of his paintings.
Being guided by his instincts and these basic fundamentals of drawing and painting he is primarily self taught and is personally glad that he wasn't too influenced by teachers of Art he didn't like. He is greatly influenced by the realistic paintings of Albert Bierdstadt, Frederick Church, Charles Nahl and others of the 19th century Hudson River School. He also is influenced by Russian Master Ivan Aivazovski and the Surrealists, Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali. Adams admires beauty and passion above most other qualities found in modern Art and of course has always admired Norman Rockwell.
His first public exhibit was at the Roseville Museum, Roseville, California in 1967. This was the same year he quit his day job as an emergency room L.P.N. to devote full time to his Art. The young Artist began to chase after his dream. That was in 1967 some 46 years ago and he never looked back or regretted the idea of living this dream awake.
During the past 46 years he has lived and painted scenes of the entire Pacific coast from Baja to the Inland passage of northern British Columbia, the gulf coast from Yucatan to Galveston, and the entire coastal areas of most of the Hawaiian islands.
Today his oil paintings & limited editions are in Museums and collections throughout the U.S. and in nine other countries including Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, England, China, Mexico, South America, Italy,
Adams technique is unique and yet traditional: He generally paints wet into wet (ala-prima) glazing only over fresh retouch varnish if it is more than three days between painting sessions. He has always used Talen's Rembrandt or Windsor Newton Select List premium fine oil pigments. He usually mixes his own palette with light bodied stand oil and Grumtine occasionally adding a small amount of damar and never uses driers. He prefers oil prepared fine portrait linen canvas and stretches his own canvas sometimes on his own stretcher bars.
For the finish on his oil paintings he uses only retouch varnish and waits at least 3 to 5 years before the final 5 lb. cut of damar varnish that he brushes on by hand. He maintains the right to design his own frames and believes that it is his personal responsibility to create with colored silks and other framing materials all the way out to the wall--stating: "It is my right to assure my work is properly framed." He often deliberately uses odd sizes so that only custom framing can be used--even when it is re-framed.
Personally he believes that all great Art has to have value to the Artist first, or it will never have value to anyone else. "My paintings are like my children and anyone who buys them knows they're adopting one of my children and that they have a responsibility to take care of them." LDA
Other than painting in oils, he enjoys water color, and painting on his own 3-D gold gilded wooden carvings which he calls stabiles. Each of these objet d'art are unique in that they have three sides each with a different portal into a mysterious realm that is like a dream brought to life. His pays attention to detail and lighting, striving to convey light reflecting on the surface suggesting the sound of waves to the viewer.
Artist Statement:
"Art is simple enough: Art is a language of the emotions that is shared with others.If it's really good Art it necessarily must live up to the same high standards set by recognized Great Art. It must be intellectually stimulating, historically significant, mathematically perfect, and of course it must be well painted. Real Art is supposed to be beautiful--in my opinion.
As an Artist I not only take life seriously but I look at life itself as an opportunity to make everything around me beautiful. Everything one does can be an Art-form if they take enough thought. I enjoy getting dressed up in a shirt and tie everyday. I take pride in pretty much everything that I do. I see this place as heaven because for me that's all I choose to see. Everyone gets 24 hours each day and they're free to do what they will with their time and see what they want to see."
Loren Adams lives happily, in his "dream awake" with his wife, Patty, on the island of Maui. They have a family of grown children and grand children.
Biography from the Archives of askART
Loren D. Adams is a surreal representational oil painter of the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to Mexico. He was born in Linton, Indiana, on September 28th, 1945, but his family moved to California when he was six. It was there that Adams became interested in the ocean and painting it.
As a child Loren was interested in music, art and religion. His grandmother and father influenced his love of music. He was educated in religious schools and eventually prepared for the seminary.
During his years at the seminary, he worked as an orderly in a Northern California hospital, and sold his first painting to a nurse. The following day he quit his job. His first professional training was from the Famous Artists School.
The artist paints from memory, never using photographs, and paints very detailed. Thus, he is not prolific and creates about 12 to 15 major works in one year.
Loren D. Adams signed some of his works with a different name: Nathan Maxwell. There are 11 paintings signed Nathan Maxwell as the artist was a member of the Kabbalarian Fraternal Organization for about a years time. They are in Vancouver. Mr. Adams was considering changing his name at the time. However he changed his mind and once again went back to his birth name.
