Artist Biography
Ron Anderson is an oil painter and an art educator and has been a successful working artist for over 20 years. He has earned many awards over the years for his oil paintings and was a nominee for the 2005 Governor's Awards for the Arts in Ohio in the Individual Artist category. Ron resides in Columbus, Ohio with wife Robin Anderson and their sons Christopher and Brandon.
Ron is a commercial art instructor with The Columbus College of Art & Design and with Columbus Public Schools. Ron has served as an Art Consultant on several Public Art projects with art commissions that have included oil paintings, graphic design and illustration.
Prior to working as a Commercial Art instructor, Ron worked as a Fashion Illustrator for the Halle's department store in Cleveland, Ohio and for the Lazarus department store in Columbus, Ohio. He also held the position of Fashion Illustrator and Art Director for the Madison's retail stores in Columbus, Ohio.
Ron served as a Regional Director for the Ohio Governor's Show/ Governor's Youth Art Exhibition from 1994-2000 and on the Board of Directors of the Worthington Arts Council from 1990-1992.
Ron Anderson has developed a recognizable style of distinctive artwork and continues to devote time to his oil paintings. His paintings are included in several corporate art collections.
He was commissioned to create an oil painting for the Absolut Spirits Company, 3rd Annual Art Collection entitled "Absolut Expressions" and two portraits of George Washington Williams that are currently housed in the Ohio Statehouse.
His most recent art commission involved creating six oil paintings for The Supreme Court of Ohio in the Ohio Judicial Center that depicts the "Rule of Law". The paintings are on display on the 11th floor outside of the Law Library in the Law Library Gallery.
Ron Andersons oil paintings are also included in the permanent art collections of the Springfield Museum of Art in Springfield, Ohio. and The King Arts Complex in Columbus, Ohio.
His triptych entitled "Cargo" is the centerpiece of an interactive installation at The King Arts Complex entitled "Cargo: The Middle Passage". Ron's triptych measures 93"x48" (wxh) and depicts the interior of a slave ship.
Artist Statement
"Working as an illustrator and painter for more than 20 years, I have often utilized the figure in narratives to communicate the nature of the human condition.
I give each of my characters a role in my paintings that plays out like a scene from a motion picture. Carefully scripted by a personal experience, these characters go about their lives like you and me.
Many of my paintings depict tension or energy in some way. The tension is exhibited in an attitude, an action or in some activity on the canvas. The tension is either overt or more kinetic, but is almost palpable in each piece of artwork.
The size of my paintings, along with some personal connection, pulls you into the canvas. The drag of an alto saxophone fills the room in one painting while the noise deafens you; the smoke chokes you. A fight breaks out in the corner of the room on another canvas while a pool hustler wins a round. The subjects are infinite.
Henry O. Tanner, John Sloan, and George Bellows were masters at observing and translating these types of human conditions onto a canvas in oil. My technique, drawn from what I have observed from these artists, comes with a willingness to bare my soul and to capture my life experiences with each stroke of my paint brush."
Ron Anderson
