JEFF SCHALLER
The year was 1989 , I was a freshman in college . Like most freshmen I was in awe of the possibilities , in awe of the art world . Before going to college I had always enjoyed art and used it as a means of survival . I had survived high school by painting the latest hair band on the backs of jean jackets . This basically saved me from getting beat up in high school as I passed by the smoking lounge ( Remember it was the 80 ’ s and high school kids smoked in designated areas ). For me to walk past the smoking lounge was like glancing at a retrospective of all my finest work . As you can tell by my oeuvre , my knowledge of the art world was fairly narrow … Roger Dean was my idol . Little did I know my admiration was fickle and it quickly faded and Dean was replaced by art star Jasper Johns . Like I said , it was 1989 , I had just gone to the MOMA to see a retrospective of a guy with two first names . I was blown away by the brushstrokes , the opacity of color , the transparency of color , the drips and the colors . I had found my soul mate ! This is what I wanted to spend my life exploring and at that age , imitating . Along with finding an idol in the art world , I had also found a beautiful girlfriend who , little did I know , would turn out to be a soul mate .