(bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music) - Southern Utah Museum of Art is presenting Observations: People and Stories Visualized by Stewart Seidman.

With over 50 pieces of art and various themes.

Stewart Seidman joins us today.

Welcome Stewart.

Nice to have you here.

So I know you have included works that show people and places you find interesting, tell us about the exhibit.

- Well, Mary, the exhibit includes about, as you said 50 pieces or so of rendered paintings on canvas and some FedEx paintings which is another story unto itself.

- [Mary] All right.

And tell me about the FedEx paintings.

This is pretty interesting.

You use the envelopes.

- Yes, I use FedEx envelopes.

Used to get a lot of those in the office and as recycled pieces, I use those in my paint palettes because of their slick surface.

So it was great to mix my paints on and I saved them for some reason and ultimately wound up using them to create new work.

So it's recycled, reworked, and reborn paintings.

- [Mary] I like that.

I like that.

And, and I know you include some cultural icons, some music icons.

So what are some of the themes of your paintings?

- Well, there are, as you said, cultural icons.

There are pieces of the Dalai Lama, who I think is a cultural icon.

There are pieces of Ernest Hemingway, who I think is a cultural icon and many more.

And the places we've been to around the world, I make quick sketches when we're there, come home, and repurpose them and put them on canvas again.

- All right.

And how did you end up in St. George?

- Well, we came out for a visit as a lot of people do and fell in love with the environment and the surrounding areas and being from New York or as a kid who grew up in Brooklyn, this was a whole great experience for us.

So my wife and I decided to build a house here and make this, our, our ultimate home.

And we sold everything back East and here we are.

- [Mary] All right, well, we're lucky to have you and I can't wait to see your work.

Thank you for being here.

And if you'd like to know more about Southern Utah Museum of Arts Observations: People in Stories Visualized by Stewart Seidman, it will be up through July 10th, go to suu.edu/pva/suma suu.edu/pva/suma suu.edu/pva/suma I'm Mary Dickson.

Thanks for watching CONTACT.

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