Interview with Artist: Vic Mastis

We thought you would like to get to know our artist/owners here at the Gateway Gallery a little better. This blog entry marks our first interview with one of the Gateway Artists; Vic Mastis. Her beautiful painting Orange Trees is featured on our postcard this month. She will be presenting numerous new paintings, in conjuction with all of the Gateway artists, this Friday at the Gateway Gallery in our newest exhibit called Caution! Fresh Paint.

How long have you been an artist?

At sixteen, I drew portraits at Six Flags—(It was crazy employment for a very shy sixteen year old.) Next, I took a year of only art courses, Then, I found a job working nights at the post office. When I got off at 7:00am, I would head straight for Meramec Community College and participate in three hour figure drawing classes. I have been producing art for approximately 30 years.

Are you formally trained? If so, where?
I had two master classes in Cloudcroft, New Mexico taught by William Herring. He has had the greatest impact on my artistic life concerning the mechanics, composition, color and work ethics. They were classes that were unsurpassed by anything you could get in a book. Also, Victor Wang, a teacher at Fontbonne University has been a great influence on my present style. He taught techniques of the Old Masters, which I still use today. I have taken many workshops with great artists like, Doug Dawson, Billy O’Donnell, Gill Dellinger, Jerry Brown, Sean and David Cornell.

What draws you to the medium you use?
I have always loved glitz and glitter. One incident I remember was, when I was young, my mother would take us downtown, St. Louis to look at the Christmas displays. I preferred to look at the sequined, sparkling party clothes in the window display. My intent is to capture that spark I was always drawn to- in my artwork. After extensive experimenting with everything iridescent I could get my hands on, I came up with using gold leaf in my paintings to give my art that illumination.


How long have you been involved with The Gateway Gallery?
I was one of the original members of Gateway Gallery. We have been in business 4 ½ years. The experience and education I have gotten here has far surpassed anything I learned in college. Just being with the other owners (artists) has been very rewarding. Being among the beautiful artwork when I work is an added bonus.


Who are your greatest artistic influences?
I would have to say, Maxfield Parrish for his use of reflective color. Gustav Klimt was a superb draftsmen. His design element was something to write home about. He also applied gold lead to his paintings. Joaquin Sorolla for his direct painting method. Someone in his day described his painting style as –Sorolla paints like a pig but somehow it always comes out.


Where is your studio and what is it like?
My studio is in the basement of my house. My husband put in lights with special daylight bulbs and a slop sink. Most of the time it is quite messy with items all over the place. I leave them out because they are things that inspire me or remind me of a painting I want to create. It is fairly large but there is never enough room now that I am painting larger.


What is the best museum/ art gallery/ art exhibit you have ever been to?
The Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. I didn't want to go because I thought it would all be portraits. Boy, was I wrong. They had a whole section of Thomas Dewing of the Pre-Raphaelites. Fantastic--- Also, there were restoration rooms enclosed in glass with cameras hooked to a large screen so you could see how they were restoring paintings and frames. They also had their inventory in glass display cases so you could see all their collections and didn’t have to wait for the museum to rotate them.

Look for everyone's newest this Friday April 17 from 6-9pm by searching for this little tag.