Allen Read
ARTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE
Meet Allen Read, artist extraodinaire. Allen has been sharing his art professionally with the world for over 30 years and has just recently relocated to Las Vegas from California. His art is already showing up in the valley. Allen recently finish a magical mural at Cram Middle School and art for Ash Out Vapor. He and his partner Christopher Michael have also been commissioned by local band The Honorifics to paint a backdrop for their shows.
In his early teens he started to sell his work. Then, in his later teens, began to teach art to children Kindergarten to 8th grade for the San Jose Museum of Art. While at the Museum, he was lucky enough to meet and learn from many world famous artists. He picked up priceless pointers from the "big boys".
In 1991, he began his work with granite, starting off by designing and manufacturing memorials for people who had lost their loved ones. His experience in this line of work taught him one of life's valuable lessons. While working with funeral homes, and seeing all the sadness, he discovered that his art is a gift to the world. Much like knowledge, art has no value until it is shared with others. Self expression is not the main goal of his art but the expression of all that surrounds him, especially the thoughts, emotions and memories of others. He believes that being an artist isn't necessarily a gift, art is your talent, sharing it with the world is the gift.
For over 22 years he has dealt with approximately 18,000 families, 1 on 1, to make sure that a couple hundred years from now, people will look at that stone and know, not just “something”, but a lot of “things” about that person. His work fully represents people who are loved, tremendously loved, by their families, friends, admirers, and so forth. He puts his entire heart and soul, into a stone so “that person's” heart and soul comes out. That’s his gift.
No matter how sad or heavy, happy or light, he guarantees anything and everything he does for you will surpass your expectations.
He can deliver and he will deliver! He will give every job his best! If his final piece isn’t even better than you expected, “I will ….Cry", Allen says.
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