For it was in his formative years in Long Beach, California, where Ken grew
up with his feet deeply planted in the surfing culture, that he first learned to
express his art talent. Caught up in the ground swell of the 1960s surfing
culture, Ken not only plunged into the sport of surfing but into the art and
graphics of surfing as well.
While working his way towards a Bachelor in Fine Arts
degree from Long Beach State University, Ken built one of the world's most
prominent silkscreen and T-shirt companies, creating now-legendary surfing art
that adorned surfers from Belmont Shores to Hawaii to Mexico. His surfing
images, silk-screened as original prints on paper, became the "fine art" of this
beach culture, and today, represent the classic surf art of the past century.
At the heart of Ken's work was always the awareness of the fine line between
man-made and nature. In the mid-1990s, Ken moved to a more serious art level -
involving him with the immediacy of oil paints as opposed to the
process-burdened medium of printmaking. Throwing himself into the splendor of "plein
air" (on location) painting, Ken discovered the richness and broad colors of the
city life he long avoided. As he will tell you, he rejoiced in this newfound
ability to paint anything and everything - cafes, train stations, airports,
street scenes, and of course, never far away, was the beach, his first love.
The transition from surf art to serious impressionism was natural for Ken -
his passion and obsession to reach a new understanding between himself and the
oil painting medium took on a new intensity of discovery. "I simply want to
achieve the ultimate communication on the canvas - to say more with less," Ken
says.
His deft use of color. His economies of brush strokes. His simple, yet
beautifully structured compositions. As one famous critic described - "each
painting captures a moment in time charged with a hint of narrative drama. And
each is rendered with such vibrant immediacy that a single glance excites other
senses as well."
Ken's passion for painting is shared with hundreds of students who each year
travel from around the world to attend his workshops in Laguna Beach and Carmel.
With his life partner, Paulette Martinson, they have a thriving art world
centered at their studio and gallery in picturesque Laguna Canyon.
In a relatively short time since this transition to plein air painting, Ken
Auster has moved to the forefront of American contemporary impressionists. He
consistently walks away with gold medals and first place awards at juried
exhibits. His work is collected by some of the most respected galleries and
patrons.
Renowned for his classic surf art, Ken Auster now sees and paints a bold,
dynamically changing world, whether it is London, Venice (Italy), San Francisco,
Carmel, Napa Valley, or Baja, Mexico. He shares with us the uncomplicated but
moving stories on canvas - simply and effectively, documenting the ordinary in
an unordinary manner.
And what about his surfing? Well, if the surf
is flat, you'll find Ken in his studio. But when the surf is "up", you'll find
Ken, most likely, filling his other passion
