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From: Chicago Sun-Times When it comes to manipulating paint on a canvas, let's just say that PAUL STANLEY -- one of the four faces of the iconic rock band KISS -- is quite the expert, whether that canvas is his own visage or a swath of cloth resting on an easel. "It's generally a two-hour process if I'm being leisurely," Stanley says about the amount of time it takes to transform himself into his rock star stage persona. "In a pinch, it's just a little over an hour. Remember, when I put on those boots I have to acclimate to a higher altitude, so a good amount of time is definitely required." Painting on fabric canvas is not so cut and dried, the 55-year-old singer-songwriter-artist reveals. "My two passions are music and art," he says. "I started doing art when I was very little. There's a high school in New York called the High School of Music and Art (the sister school to the High School for the Performing Arts), and I attended that school. But it's funny, when I was there, I didn't focus on my art very much because I would tell my teachers, 'I'm gonna be a rock star.' "Then I get to KISS and it's such a visual band. So there you have it. I've designed sets, album covers, tour books. But the idea of painting for real didn't surface until about six years ago when I was going through a very difficult divorce, and my friend uttered the prophetic words, 'You need to paint.' "Something resonated with me. I went out, bought a canvas and just started to paint in earnest again." Unlike the vivacious glam rock personified by his musical side, Stanley's paintings, mostly oils, lean toward the seriously contemporary. Colors and abstracts are omnipresent. "I wasn't interested in trying to make a teacup look like a teacup," he says about his style. "I wanted to use art to touch people emotionally as opposed to intellectually. It's really a stream of consciousness using texture and colors as opposed to words. It's all a journey for me. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I know that when I finish a painting it reveals to me everything I need to know." Like umpteen musicians before him and since (John Lennon, Tony Bennett, Grace Slick), Stanley has faced the music about his artwork. "There's no denying my fame gets my foot in the door when it comes to a gallery or exhibition, but that doesn't stop anybody from slamming the door -- and they have," he says. "What I do hear more and more from galleries is that people are drawn to the paintings without knowing who did them." But some critics would easily say, the public's interest piqued simply because it's "that KISS guy's painting?" "I'm of the school that you know it's good because you like it. Critics be damned. [Laughs] God knows there's never gonna be a shortage of people who criticize what you do. Criticism falls on my deaf ear. When people come to my house, I always remind them it's the house that bad reviews built. And you oughta see this house. "Life is too short to deal with people who don't like you or like what you do. It's the same with art. Everybody should have art in their home, whether you have a trailer, an apartment or an estate. If you like something, if it says something to you, go for it. Let no one tell you your choice in art is bad." When Stanley isn't on the road with the current KISS incarnation, he's enjoying a home life complete with new wife and a new 9-month-old son, Colin, along with big brother Evan, 13. And he's perfectly comfortable with that part of his life that is played out in public. "There are perks that go with fame, and I appreciate them," he says. "I don't expect them, but I take them. I don't expect a great table at a restaurant, but I don't turn them down. Would you?" |
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