Gallery Representation
My Path
I attended Pratt Institute, Brooklyn NY and began a freelance illustration career in 1977. I was approached by General Mills Restaurants in 1985 and asked to paint a wall mural in a restaurant in Daytona Beach FL. This was the beginning of Olive Garden Restaurants which grew to over 500 locations during my time as artist in charge of designing and painting murals and other decorative art. I painted over 1200 murals in 47 states through my 15 years of work with the company.
A household sponge as a brush and styrofoam plates as palettes.
“This painting assignment challenged all my design and painting skills. The murals were painted directly onto rough textured interior walls. I used fast unorthodox rough-in methods covering large spaces, then refined the look with acrylic artist paints and brushes. Consistency and speed were essential as in some years up to 65 restaurants were built and most restaurant had between 2 and 8 murals specified. It was impossible to paint a different image each time but new paintings were added to my repertoire as I progressed.”
Occasionally an unexpected mural placement would appear and call for a little flexibility. This was in a converted building in Houston TX.
Olive Garden NY Times Square. This single restaurant location required over two months of work to complete.
Red Lobster Racing.
In 1982 Red Lobster Restaurants sponsored a race car in a North American road racing series. I was asked to design a paint livery to promote the brand. It became a hit and was voted one of the best racing liveries of all time. To this day it is raced and exhibited at historic events throughout North America and Europe.
Transitioning to Fine Arts
In 2000 Stephen segued into fine art through painting some of the many places in the US his assignments took him. Exhibiting in outdoor festivals nationwide, he soon added gallery representation and continues working today from McRae Art Studios in Orlando Florida along with his wife Susan, an accomplished ceramic artist.
