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 Rob Stern is a native Montana artist, educated at the University of Montana, where he studied Business Marketing and Fine Arts.
Stern has worked in the art arena most of his life. Tutored primarily in the areas of commercial design, he has worked for such companies as The United States Olympic Committee, The Tandy Corporation, Nacona Boots, The Denver Zoo, and Coldwater Creek. About nine years ago he decided to exclusively pursue a career in fine art.
Stern's move into fine arts has been met with great success. His work is not exclusive to one medium. His efforts include airbrush and acrylic on canvas, oil on canvas, enamel on canvas, ink on bristle board, and serigraphy. Stern's themes and content include art deco, nudes, abstract, the old west and more. Stern has studied printmaking with Russell Chatham and is an avid admirer of Russell's work.
Stern's current focus has been serigraphy and the "Scenes from the Old West" series. The following is an excerpt from an interview about the series and how it came to be.
As a commercial artist in the past, Stern was constantly urged by peers and fans to do a series of "Old West" images. Being a third generation Montanan, Old West images didn't do much for him. It was a close friend who graciously brainstormed with him one night about how he might find a way to do something different with an old theme. We came up with a concept based on "Outlaw Art." We then determined that the medium be one that might convince a viewer that the piece may actually have been made during that Old West time period. The first piece in the series was entitled "Five Riders." It was rough and crude, as he had not quite developed it yet. Since then he has produced ten editions. "Five Riders" has gone on to be his signature piece. He made very little money on that piece but he has watched secondary market buyers push the value to heights he had never imagined. He loves producing these pieces, they have flavor and personality to him.
"Scenes from the Old West" has truly become a labor of love for Stern. They are, to say the least, extremely difficult to produce. Each piece is a hand pulled, seven (or more) colors, mixed media serigraph. The paper is hand made from tree bark. The original line drawings, films, and stencils are all created entirely by hand. Each edition requires hundreds of hours to create. After initial printing, each piece is then hand brushed. The edges are torn and candled. No two pieces are identical. The editions are extremely small. Six of the editions have sold out to date. |
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