Stan Maples Digital Fine Art
About Stan Maples
Standing at a fold-up chalk board, Stan Maples, at the age of six took great pleasure in creating images that only a six year old could do. Often, Stan would ask his grandmother what the image he was drawing represented. As soon as his grandmother gave a resonable answer, or not, Stan had the image erased and was busy drawing something else. So was the entertainment, in 1956, in a small West Texas town, known as Sweet Water. Raised by his grandparents until he was seven, Stan was eventually reunited with his biological father & stepmother. Both parents where involved in military and government jobs and at the age of nine, Stan spent three years in Bermuda, where his father was stationed. It was during the three years on the island that Stan was exposed to tropical wildlife, vegetation, and vibrant colors, which would ultimately be an influence in his art work.
After leaving Bermuda, Stan spent the next six years in Kansas City, Missouri. It was in 1968, that Stan made a decision to pursue art, rather than music. In 1969, Stan attended Missouri State University to study Graphic Design. Two years into the art program, a shift from Graphics to Sculpture & Figure Drawing took place. These two areas, captivated Stan's heart as he went on to receive his BFA degree in Sculpture and eventually, completed an MFA in Sculpture, from the University of Nebraska.
Stan, has enjoyed creating art work for over forty years. In 1988, Stan accepted a position teaching art at Evangel University, located in Springfield, Missouri. At the university, Stan taught courses in Sculpture, Graphic Design, Digital Imaging/Painting, and Drawing. It was in the mid 1990's, that Stan became interested in computers and what would later become another shift in his art career, Digital Imaging & Painting. Stan commented"As a Sculptor and Digital Fine Artist, I enjoy the manipulation of three dimensional space on a two dimensional area. I particularly enjoy the use of ambiguous space and how that space interacts with lines and shapes within a composition". Stan enjoys the combination of abstract shapes and lines, with realistic imagery, particularly floral images. Working with both abstraction and realism is something that Stan continues to enjoy in his art work today.
Stan does his own photography and uses several photo editing software programs, along with a paint program which allows him to simulate traditional artist medium. Stan enjoys several types of subject matter, florals, landscapes and dogs (particularly Keeshonds).
Over the years, Stan has had numerous one person exhibitions and his artwork has been excepted in both juried and invitational exhibitions. Stan has artwork in private collections, throughout the state of Missouri and in various regions of the United States. In 2004, Stan was introduced to the corporate art world and since that time to the present has placed over 200 digital fine art pieces within numerous corporations, among those are Mercy Hospital located in Springfield & Rolla, Missouri, the BKD Building located in Springfield, Missouri and the Bank of Boliver located in Bolvar, Missouri. In addition to a lifetime of creating art, Stan enjoys reading, gardening, and showing and training his dogs for obedience and conformation dog shows. Stan currently owns two Keeshonds. He has owned this particular breed since 1974.
