Leon Nicholas Kalas   "George Washington", Oil on Canvas (22x28"), 2009, $1,100.


       

Bio:
Painting to me it's a life force, not a career. I attended the Art Student's League of New York, The New York Academy of Art, and FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) where I studied portraiture and human anatomy. In pursuing my art, I focused primarily on the human figure. This decision was initially an aesthetic one, although an even deeper response to human condition has inspired my work. I believe human beings are noble. We live with the knowledge that some day our lives will end and we wonder if there is a purpose to our existence. I believe there is a very tragic, noble quality to this basic condition. I believe that to create is to reach into the depth of your soul and let your spirit free; to grasp the first impression through sight and transform it into an idea and ultimately into a piece of art. I believe art is not always our expression of the beauty that surround us in our every day lives; it is also our expression of our anger, frustration, sorrow, happiness or dreams harbored in our subconscious mind, which we are unable to express in words.