Soli, Gaylord

 

GAYLORD SOLI

 

Gaylord Soli was born in 1939 on a farm in North Dakota, shortly after his parents emigrated from Oslo, Norway. At the age of three Gaylord and his family relocated to Los Angeles, California. While he has made Southern California his home ever since, and currently works daily in his studio in Orange County, his love of open spaces never has left him.

 

Much of Gaylord's earlier years were spent on adventures around the globe. These quests encompassed camera safaris to the Kalahari Desert of Africa, anthropological research on the native tribes of the Amazon River, studies of Mayan ruins of Chitchen Itza in the Yukatan Peninsula, and the ancient world of Alexander the Great, from Syria to Mongolia.

 

All of these places and experiences have had a causal effect leading to the exotic nuances, romantic spirit, and sometimes a primeval quintessence found in Gaylord's paintings. Gaylord himself is quoted as recognizing the profound influence these early experiences have on his art: I have been fortunate to have traveled the world extensively. This has allowed me to explore and experience primitive cultures. I think my art reflects these experiences. With his extraordinary talent, Gaylord produces work of enormous impact and unusual sensuousness; that is filled with primal mystery.

 

Gaylord is a self-taught artist, with diverse life experiences. He started his own company designing sports attire, has pinstriped antique cars and designed fashions for Blackwell and other top designers. Ultimately, he evolved to work in the field of serigraphy, founding Clearwater Publishing in the early eighties. In that capacity, he gained a reputation for producing high quality prints for many known fine artists including Richard Diebenkorn, Mel Ramos, and Peter Max.

 

Gaylord's artwork is imbued with a feeling of freedom and spontaneity in both image and technique. Thematically, an idea is allowed a metamorphosis, to expand and grow as the work is executed. Lines, figures, textures and colors evolve as the work progresses until the final stroke makes the statement of completion.