Artist Larry Chestnut

Self-Portrait

Structure to be free!

Artist Larry Chestnut

I had the pleasure of meeting him at the unveiling of the Trenton Mural Arts project which also took place at Artworks.  BTW he has the “penthouse” studio at the aforementioned Trenton Art Gallery.  After a brief introduction from a mutual friend we were laughing and sharing art experiences.  Larry retired from a design gig with the State of NJ; he then went full-time into his passion, ART.

This Trenton native is an avid cyclist (Princeton Freewheelers)www.princetonfreewheelers.com, a docent in Philly (Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art)www.pafa.org, as well as a lover of good food and friends, not to mention a ballroom dancer!  He enjoys the West Coast style.

I spent several hours in Larry’s studio while he showed me his craft.  Larry is a music enthusiast who mostly enjoys Blues, Classical and Jazz; however he is open to many genres.  In one of our meetings Larry shared with me his love for the music of Dinah Washington and enjoyed his introduction to one of my favorites Steel Pulse. 

With the mood set by the natural light and a cross breeze coming through the warehouse windows, Larry began.  Just a few hours later an image was more than ¾ complete.  The first session was a portrait of my media guy David Byers.

 

The visual likeness and how he captured the inner person is a testimony to the privilege we in Trenton have to call Artist Larry Chestnut one of our own!  For the art lovers who also visit New Hope he recently had the piece on display at the New Hope Gallery of Fine Art.

He does more than just portraits folks!
Larry is a kindred spirit of mine who has contentment with himself.  This contentment fits perfectly into a saying of a friend from Cuba, “A man has to know his limitations”.

I suggest you reach out to Larry, see his work, his studio and experience his artwork.  He is indeed another hidden gem of the Trenton 365!

As always thank you for visiting and tell someone else to check it out and suggest someone to me.

Photo’s courtesy of David Byers, Ewing NJ and JP, Trenton NJ.