Larry Jon Davis

Larry Jon Davis, a native of Clinton, Iowa, has enjoyed a career as a professional artist and Professor of Art that spans the last 60 years. Over that time his works have found their way into numerous private, corporate and public collections across the US. He has also been active in various civic arts organizations and has often served as an exhibition juror. His own arts education started in the Clinton Public Schools, followed by undergraduate and graduate studies at The University of Iowa with his Masters Degree being awarded at Jacksonville University. Nearly a decade ago, following his retirement from college teaching and administration at Florida State College in Jacksonville, Florida, Larry and his wife Jacquie returned to their native Midwest and set up his studio at their residence near Galesburg, Illinois.

Larry’s long experience in figure drawing often meshes with his extensive travels, resulting in landscapes that contain hints of figures. Thanks partly to a USAF tour of duty in England, his works often incorporates British and Continental themes. So too, inspirations from a 1980’s arts exchange of other Iowa artists to Kofu, Japan still influence his creative repertoire.

Artist Statement

“About five years ago, I experienced proof that an old dog can still learn new tricks when I first combined cold wax into my traditional oil painting process. This technique encouraged me to explore a whole new range of layering and texturing methods. Whether in realistic or more abstracted manner it has enabled me to selectively uncover colorful and calculated underpainting in the finished work. The whole process really opened up a more free and expressive process of mark making and color relationship.

I hope you will enjoy the stylistic balance I seek to create, somewhere between narrative realism and the formal abstraction. In my studio I have a poster from a visit to Walden Pond with one of my favorite quotes from Thoreau. It says, ‘Simplify, simplify simplify.’ I keep trying to do that, but you can be the judge.”