Wade Schuster Wade Schuster is originally from Madison, Wisconsin. He received a degree in Art Education from The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Schuster has been living and working in Las Vegas, Nevada since 2005, both as an artist and an art teacher.

An active painter since the mid-nineties, Wade Schuster has found great success within the growing art community of Las Vegas.

THE JOURNEY (Artist Statement):

As an artist, my favorite tool is the paintbrush because it becomes an extension of me; my physical being, my thoughts and my emotions.

Painting for me is not just an act, it is an emotional journey. I rarely have a painting that ends where the concept begins. As the paint is layered, the painting will inevitably take a new direction. I tend to be an intuitive and emotional painter as opposed to a technical and thoughtful painter. Many of my subjects have personal meaning to me, and most likely, have a personal impact on the viewer.

All of my paintings are figurative. My work falls into three subject areas which I consider "Studies." Below, I will briefly discuss each of them to give you a better idea of the concepts and process involved.

STUDIES OF MOVEMENT:
My fascination with Marcel Duchamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2," lead to my "Movement Series." Many of these paintings were composed from old life drawings. I had hundreds of drawings collecting dust and decided that I would start taking four or five drawings, put them together like a puzzle, and create a balanced and unique image of these figures moving across the canvas.

STUDIES OF (REAL) LIFE:
Hopefully everybody's life is filled with happy moments, but to me, life is not truly FELT until we encounter the hard times. That is real. That is life. My "Studies of (Real) Life" are generally paintings of people in real situations. Living in Las Vegas has further exposed me to the polarities of the life experience. Experiencing a "real life" moment is so much more intense. My goal is to visually capture that powerful emotion. These paintings are composed of personal experiences and those that I've encountered during my journey.

STUDIES OF MUSIC:
The paintings of musicians are simply that. However, the way they are painted; the colors, lines and textures used have very specific meanings. These paintings become more of a journey than any other, and that is why I enjoy painting them so much. Much of my recent work consists of these melodious paintings. Many of them are painted live during concerts. In this case, I try to channel the energy and emotion of the music and use colors and lines that coincide with those feelings. I prefer using a loose, more painterly style with these paintings. The heads tend to be proportionately, too large, and the musicians themselves have either a very calm or a very intense facial expression. The result is an aesthetically pleasing and transcendent image that is full of energy.