Artist of the Month – Introducing May

EAU CLAIRE, Wis (WLAX/WEUX) – If you have followed this segment of WI Proud at all, you know that I love artists. There is just something about the creative type that I love. Even the ones that are flighty and flakey and maddening to the nth degree, I love them. I enjoy watching them work. I like talking to them. I like seeing them light up about things that have nothing to do with their medium. I just, really, love artists.

The new sponsor of the WI Proud Artist of the Month, B-Framed Galleries, is responsible for our May artist. When Cynthia Wing-Reed came on board, she asked if she could send artists my way and I said, “PLEASE DO!” Again, I love artists and that would be enough for me to say, but also, she has a long history of working with artists of all kinds. It’s her business to know who is out there creating works of art. And those doing so in her backyard make it their business to know her. With all of that in mind, I headed to Eau Claire to meet the painter Mrs. Wing-Reed had in mind.

Some artists have a frenetic energy to them. Like a live wire. That can go a myriad of ways in a person. Dark and dangerous to bright and infectious, and everywhere in between. They are hard to contain and follow their own rhythm. They are charismatic and consuming and… fun. Derek Hambly is that kind of artist.

It seems cliché to say that he is the living embodiment of his paintings, but it’s hard not to make that kind of connection. His paintings look tactile. You can feel them with your eyes. Hambly paints in a way that thick, smears, of paint come together to make familiar, but dreamy, scenes. Then you see him, and he is wearing paint-splattered jeans and shoes, his trademark kerchief, and boasting a smile that seems familiar and dreamlike, all at the same time. Then, he hits you with that Australian charm and you’re certain that you must still be dreaming.

But you’re not dreaming. This fella is real. And he is real special.

Derek comes from Melbourne, Australia, by way of Jefferson, Wisconsin. Or, however you say that he grew up in Melbourne and now lives in Jefferson with his wife, Nan. He started as an abstract painter, creating shape and flow with his paintbrush. When he moved to the States, he found audiences enjoyed more “realistic” works so he adapted. What came of that is moving pieces.

I can’t say enough how much I, personally, enjoy Derek’s work. The way he describes how he “creates” a painting, is by seeing it through the hazy eyes of post slumber. In those few moments before he’s fully awake (when most people would be rubbing sleep from their eyes or lamenting the workday ahead) he sees the picture he is going to paint. In that haze, he adjusts the colors, or the perspective, until he is happy with it… and then he awakes fully. That day, he paints that picture. That is exactly what his paintings look like. The picture in your head as your dreams fade away, and reality starts to set in. That is also who Derek Hambly is… the image of an artist you’re left with after you dream of the pictures you wish you could paint.

This month, I will bring my conversation with Derek to you as well as take a look at his incredible career in the arts. Be ready for painting, house building and new wave rock and roll (the music with the accompanying video is Derek’s original song “Spanish Romance” from his album “Magnetic Energy”)! Welcome to the Artist of the Month Club, Derek Hambly!

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