Ode 2 the Masters: The Art of Ed Salazar

Exhibit: June 5 – June 24
Artist: Ed Salazar
Reception: June 17 | 2PM – 4PM

Ed Salazar formally began his art education at the age of 18 in St. Petersburg, Florida at the St. Petersburg College. After moving to New York in 1984, he became a successful illustrator of historical subjects, producing some 300 paintings in over 20 years. His illustrations have appeared in many books, calendars, and journals, some of which enjoy an international circulation in several languages.

Salazar has also developed his skills as a portrait artist in the classical tradition. He highly admires the naturalistic art of the Baroque era through the 19^th century, especially the works of Diego Velazquez, Sir Thomas Lawrence and Jon Singer Sargent. He has studied with renowned living artists such as Nelson Shanks at the New York Academy of Art, and with Everett Raymond Kinstler at the Art Students League of New York.

He is a board member of the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists. Salazar is also recognized in Marquis Who’s Who, an exclusive community of accomplished, seasoned professionals who have worked hard to showcase their many achievements.

Among his portrait subjects are celebrities such as actress and singer Vanessa Williams, NBA star Rick Fox, NASCAR great Mark Martin, and jazz legends Gato Barbieri and Lionel Hampton. Salazar presently resides in Fort Worth, Texas. He believes that regardless of the subject one paints, the key elements of successful painting consist in good composition, good drawing, accurate values, good color, variety of edges and textures, and dexterity in brushwork… in that order. As a result of consistently meeting this criteria, his painting style has been described as “very natural”, “lifelike”, “dignified”, “powerful”… “classic.”