When you visit a doctor's office, you usually don't go there to look at the artwork on the wall. For the most part, you know that if you do see art pieces on the walls, they are typically outdated, not too intriguing, and more often than not reprints. Rarely would you find an original, let alone, an original painted by one of the doctors.
However, when you're at IMA of Greenville in the lab waiting room, something captures your attention. Wow, you might exclaim! That's really quite nice! That's vibrant and full of life. You get up from your chair to take a closer look. Hmm, I wonder who painted that, you might say, because that's a beautiful painting!
Paintings usually don't come with captions, however; in this case let us pretend they do.
Hi my name is Dr. Trey DuBose's and I'm a physician here at IMA. It's quite interesting how this painting of mine managed to deck the walls of IMA. You're right when you say that it's the Falls Reedy River Park, one of the most spectacular scenes in our Greenville downtown community. While my typical medium is watercolor, I chose acrylic to capture this particular scene. I spent several months trying to capture Greenville's panoramic river scene and cityscape. After I finished the painting, and like many of my other art pieces before, I had to submit it to my two toughest art critics, my three year old daughter and my wife. My daughter took a good look at it, scratched her chin, and said, "it's not really great, daddy." My wife was kinder in her critique, but pointed out we had no room for a painting of this size in our home. So I had to find another place to put the artwork up on a wall. This time, it happened to be at my office at IMA.
My love for art began in elementary school with the two D's--drawing and doodling. In high school, Mr. Grills, my art teacher at Riverside High School introduced me to brilliant watercolor and to a famous sculptor named Michelangelo. I was inspired and learned to appreciate precision, detail, work ethic that is required to produce brilliant pieces of art. I also realized that these same qualities were needed in medicine.
I began painting in college at Clemson University with watercolor in my dorm room--it was cheap and not too messy. However, my artwork really took off when I moved to Charleston for medical school. There, I found a city with a progressive renaissance movement, full of watercolorists--with an emphasis on beautiful scenery and architecture. I loved the way light played off the old buildings of Charleston and the many natural water scenes. The city allowed for me to paint so many things that I loved to see.
My paintings are usually vibrant, using mainly the primary colors. I try to put my own perspective into artwork--not trying to make it exactly like what it is...its not photorealistic, not impressionist, and not too strict in terms of architecture. I feel painting this way gives my artwork life. It's not too rigid, I guess like myself as you'll see if I'm you're physician. You may also see my artwork has a comic book flair. Spider-Man is my hero. I have loved his comics from when I can imagine. A little side note--my first comic book is my most prized comic book--Amazing Spiderman #250. Anyway, the comic books most definitely have influenced my art style.
I love traveling with my family to beautiful places such as Paris, France and Florence, Italy. When I can't paint an art scene on location, I will take photograph or try to etch the scene such as the Jardin d'Acclimatation in France- into my memory. Now thanks to my wonderful wife, when I return home, I have a new place to paint or draw. My new drafting table in my girl's playroom is where I now sit down and where my artwork comes to life after I return from my trips. This past year, I set out to paint twelve art pieces, I ended up painting six. Not too bad, I would say.
So the next time you're in my office, ask me about my artwork, tell me what you think, I may have painted someplace you've visited or maybe plan to visit. We may strike a connection or appreciate the many beautiful places the world has to offer.
Remember when you're having your blood drawn, you may want to read a magazine, chat to a friend, or catch a little snooze. But make sure that before you donate a few blood cells, that you take a closer look at the artwork on the wall at IMA.
When you visit a doctor's office, you usually don't go there to look at the artwork on the wall. For the most part, you know that if you do see art pieces on the walls, they are typically outdated, not too intriguing, and more often than not reprints. Rarely would you find an original, let alone, an original painted by one of the doctors.