Dennis Cleasby . Visual Artist-Musician-Photographer
Bohemian – Hippie – Trekker – Seeker……………Early Influences
The Beat Poets, Herman Hesse, Jack Kerouac, Rudyard Kipling, Ram Dass, Carlos Castaneda, Aldus Huxely, and Bhagavad Gita.
The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, John Mayall, Dave Mason, Peter Gabriel.
Vincent Van Gogh, Jan van Eyck, Frans Halls, Manet, Mattisse, Pissarro, Paul Gauguin, George Innes.
An experiential life with freedom to travel comes from the influences of Herman Hesse, Jack Kerouac, and Rudyard Kipling. My grand-parents were world travelers, bringing us gifts which sparked my imagination about travel. At age two I lived in Panama, which began a life of moving almost every two years in early life. Seeking some kind of permanence which lead to creating and producing art and music in my teens.
The first travelers/ hippies I saw were in California and Afghanistan in 1964/1965. They looked like modern gypsies with long hair and beads. The idea to live free, see the world, and travel on the land, close to the land, came from a desire to have an unconventional life; “Hippie life”. Owning property was never a goal. Living below the poverty level in order to buy my freedom was the reality of my love to create.
Listening to contemporary music, and reading Ram Dass, lead to taking hallucinogens and experimentation; 99% positive. These drugs teach us who we are. The future will deliver their true purpose when law and medicine are in harmony.
MY “educators” encouraged a singular “successful” path, “be an artist”, “be a photographer”, “be a musician”. I was always an eclectic artist who felt he needed no ones “permission” to express myself, produce music, and write books. I have always been “doing” art, so I have a “self-license” approach to creation in various fields. Money is no measure of success.
The biggest change was a move to Pakistan at age 14. A complete shift of awareness and life in other cultures took place. Travel exposed me to art and culture. Travel also exposed me to seeing a world I did not need to conform to. At age 55 I became a teacher with a pay check, health insurance, and a thermostat in my house. My hero’s are Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Krishna, and Buddha; to name a few. I am a very happily married man who likes to organic garden and raise chickens in Maine.
My family in Nicaragua have shown me how they live with the spirit of love and gratitude one can only experience by sharing. I share my life’s work with you on this website.
Art: My artistic roots come from my mother and grandmother. Both were oil painters. My first oil painting was age 12. At age 14 I saw major museums in Europe, looking at art works that years later I studied in university. At 18 I was taking private lessons and made my first sale. My mother was a key influence throughout my formative years. By age 21 I had opened Cathedral Art Gallery where local artists and musicians gathered. My first degree in Art came years later. My art sales went up and down, living from my art happened but I have always focused on creativity over self promotion. In my 40’s I completed a Masters of Fine Art. In my 50’s I completed a Masters of Science. All this time I was teaching, writing music, creating art, and living on Long Island, New York. Art, music, and photography have been my salvation and entire life’s work.
Music: Radio was a big part of my early years. It was a place I went by myself and discovered. It was Puff the Magic Dragon met Patsy Cline. There was a freedom to surfing the radio waves and finding good songs. My family bought records and my older teenage sister played top 10. That was her music but the British Invasion sealed my love for music. The Beatles is where I began my own music tastes and identity. My first guitar was bought at age 14. My first electric bass guitar was bought at age 16 with money earned playing rock n roll in Pakistan. Omaha is where I began to write and perform music for gatherings at local venues. My move to New York connected me to the Long Island Arts Council. I was artistic director of a local coffee house, meeting many contemporary folk musicians. In a 15 year span I produced, wrote, and recorded three music albums.
Photography: Photography: At age 14 I owned my first camera, beginning to document my travels in Europe and Pakistan. My father had a minor in Photography so he coached me on lighting. Half of my first photographs were blurry due to me thinking I had catch the light. Working in Black and White was preferred until the digital revolution. At one time in rural Nebraska my darkroom began at sunset and ended at dawn; no curtains, no city lights. A return to college started me on the track to photo editor in both my undergraduate and graduate degrees. This is where I had access to profession darkrooms and learned my craft. I was self taught until my first college class, reading and taking my own notes, trying to understand chemical process. Teaching photography for 25 years afforded me the life style to travel. What little money I made from dabbling in the business was never enough and turned my interests away from a high stress profession. My goal was to document and record, to take my photography into an esthetic art form that complimented and enhanced my paintings. Traveling opens up its own joy in meeting others because a person with a camera is either a friend or an enemy. To me it is an instrument of peace.
Water Colorist
Global Locations Trained as a studio artist yet, a plein air painter on location with water colors. Documenting travels. He is an award winning pastellist and oil painter.
Art Educator
After 15 Years living as a struggling visual artist in Nebraska, a move to New York, a Master of Fine Art degree lead to teaching. Involvement with Long Island Arts Council, a local Coffee House, and teaching art and photography opened the chance to travel the globe.
Musician
Performer / Producer He performed at various public venues in Omaha, Nebraska, then a move to New York where performances and recording sessions continued. He published three albums of original music.
Photography Instructor
Twenty Two Years as instructor, trained in Black and White Photography, staying true until the digital revolution. Sharing travel and education in a multicultural world.
OM TAT SAT
Dennis Cleasby Publicist Cathedral Art Gallery Records (BOOKS/ MUSIC)
DENNIS CLEASBY Owner/ Operator Cathedral Art Gallery
Art Instructor selling paintings and giving art lessons.
DENNIS CLEASBY . Art Instructor
DENNIS CLEASBY . Traveler