By Steve Clay. Submitted photo.

Introducing the works of Glasgow artist Steve Clay.  Clay, who works mostly with graphite, watercolor and colored pencils,  has been drawing for over 30 years.  He has lived in this area all his life.  His training consisted of art classes from Karl Weis at Glasgow High School. It was then that he discovered a love for pencil drawings.  He did a few watercolor paintings when he was younger and a couple of acrylic paintings but said,  “Until recently I was not nearly as good at painting as pencil drawings.  I had some scholarship offers and a chance to go to almost any art school that I wanted to attend, but did not accept. I was always better at drawing than anything else and only started serious watercolor painting in the last two years.” 

   Clay does mostly still life drawings. Most of his subjects are of inanimate objects, such as a set of pipes on the wall of the former jail building in Edmonton or an old Barren County license plate on an old Corvair.  The drawing of the license plate is one of the few he did in colored pencil.

   From 1974 to 2004 he would only draw when he really wanted to.  Sometimes it would be two or three years between drawings. He said he did not start taking art more seriously until after his divorce in 2003.

    Steve said, “I have learned quite a bit about watercolor painting from a friend and fellow artist Jeff Dirig over the last few years”.  Being mostly self taught, Steve feels doing this on his own has protected his style and that it is a good thing to figure it out yourself. “If you look at magazines that deal with painting, everyone has a special palette layout with certain colors that have to be in a certain place. I read an article about Dean Mitchel, when they asked him about his palette he said he just puts paint on it where he felt like putting it. I like artists like that”, said Steve.

   Clay’s work has been on display at Arts and Antiques on Glasgow’s Public Square for about six years and at the Christeen Snavely Art Gallery at the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center.  He took second place for a drawing he did of a 1934 Ford at the US Bank Art Show in 2008.  In 2005 he took first place in the same art show for a drawing he did of a log. He has also taken top honors for 5 – 6 years for his works at the Kentucky State Fair. One of his drawings has been published in North Light, which is a how-to art book.  It is a 1951 Chevy that he found sitting on the side of the road near Griderville.  Steve Clay has won awards three years at the Capital Arts All Kentucky Juries Show and several others.

   Steve leaves us with these words:  “Try not to copy other people’s art style, you will be happier being yourself.”

   You can contact Steve Clay 670-6165 or his email at: steveclayart@yahoo.com

About the author: Ronnie Jaggers is a seasoned sculptor, fine artist and master crafter. Her work can be seen on ChiseledFeaturesStudio.com. She reminds other artists “Trust the beauty of your art, for if you see the beauty, others will too.” To be considered for the featured artist call Ronnie at 791-3505 or email ChiseledFeaturesStudio@yahoo.com