This Friday September 4, 2009 from 7-11pm the Altadena Junction is proud to present…

In the Spirit of Franz Hals and Fotomat, Alex Schaefer will be painting 20 minute oil portraits from life! Sit and get painted.

Alex Schaefer was born in 1969. Like many artists, he took an interest in painting relatively late in life, but for whatever reason, at 18 he began to study drawing and painting in earnest a study that has continued to this day. He applied twice to the Art Center College of Design and was accepted the second try. His exposure to certain influential teachers such as Richard Bunkall, Dan McCaw, and Harry Carmean cultivated a deep fascination for art, specifically the history and craft of oil painting, representation, and expression.

After gra …duation in 1992, Mr. Schaefer entered the burgeoning video game industry where he worked for nine years with the virtual light and space of digital media, an experience that invariably influenced his perception and depiction of painted light and space on canvas. While no longer making video games, he still loves computers but takes particular delight in all the earthy, messy, “analog” aspects of paint and flaunts its physicality.

In addition to his expanding reputation as a fine artist, he is a loved and admired composition and painting instructor at the Art Center College of Design. Mr. Schaefer’s artwork is in a growing number of collections, both public and private, in the United States and abroad.