“ I might have a concept of what I want to do , and I may layout the colors real fast , but I can ’ t create the roadmap of ‘ when I go this whole thing needs to happen this way ’ because the water is going to blend . I ’ ve found that my best work is when things just happen on their own and I had no idea it would go that way . People call them happy accidents and that ’ s the beauty of watercolor . When it ’ s wet it ’ s alive and everything happens quickly , in a minute or two . You ’ ve got to be moving along . So , I have a general idea , but there is very little planning . I ’ ve painted a lot of my best paintings without a pencil sketch . Things just came out of nowhere .”
One of Dean ’ s paintings that “ came out of nowhere ” also happens to be one of his best sellers through a company called Demdaco . They license his art and put it on items such as mugs , wall art , plaques , etc . Last year , about this time , they asked Crouser to create some holiday art with cardinals . He was working hard at it when he reached a point of frustration .
“ I was at a point where I just wanted to take a deep breath . Well , I had a blob of paint on my brush , and I launched it on the paper . When I looked at it , I thought oh , it looks kind of like a little bear sitting there . So , I created a bear almost out of nowhere . Then for the background , I laid in some simple trees , and I thought oh , it ’ s not bad . Again , because it was so simple , I painted two little bright red cardinals up in a tree . It happened so fast , and it was so effortless . These are the ones you wish you knew
what you did because there was a little magic involved . And it ’ s become the best , most popular , fastest-selling image I ’ ve ever made . And I wasn ’ t trying !”
“ But you know it ’ s probably my greatest joy to be able to create something that has struck a chord with people , and this seems to have done just that . I get messages and emails from people telling me their stories , about the significance of the cardinal or their story of a bear or whatever . The painting is very simple but that ’ s the beauty of that particular image . It ’ s just one of those things you feel lucky to have made .”
After such a successful capture of lightning in a bottle , so to speak . I asked Dean what happens if or when he gets stuck on a painting .
“ Well , there are times when the energy is flowing through you and there are times when it ’ s not . At the times when it ’ s not happening , I think it ’ s okay to set it down and say it ’ s not there right now . You never know when it ’ s going to happen either . So that ’ s kind of been my way of doing things . I ’ m a very impatient person but I ’ ve come to an understanding with my craft . It has taught me to be patient because it ’ s going to come when it wants to come .”
Again , it is this kind of self-discipline that has served Crouser so well throughout his life . Now , as he continues with his art , I wondered what comes next for the man who ’ s attained so many goals ? What dream has Dean Crouser yet to coalesce into being ?
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