Today we’d like to introduce you to Andre Belton.
Hi Andre, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started painting about 14 years ago because I had a student who was enduring the same discouragement I faced when I was a kid. This young man told me that he had a teacher that told him people of color cannot create fine art, and he really wanted to. So, I started painting, and bringing the work that I would create at home into the school where I was teaching, to show him and any other student who dared to look, baby it’s possible. I chose to paint to be the kind of inspiration that showed them there is nothing in this world that they can’t do if they put their minds to it.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh absolutely not! This has totally not been a smooth road, there are natural challenges that come up with learning any new skill.
Then there’s added pressure because I’ve never taken an art class. That said, at the beginning of my career, I always felt like I was behind. Sure, I’m making and even selling art, but I didn’t have that degree or that knowledge that I felt others had that were classically trained. I often fought some internal demons at the beginning of my career.
Those evolved into my current exploration of the divinity in imperfection, which I bring to life using shimmering metallic leafing and rich textures in my “Gilded Goddess” series.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work in so many mediums, but my favorite is oil paint and mixed media on canvas. Recently I’ve been honing a new technique; it’s a gel medium meticulously layered onto a nearly finished painting, with a mica powder dusting on top for additional texture and color. And the way the powders catch the light in person is divine! When I layer this technique on top of my metallic colored leafing, the finished product is truly something to see in person.
I’m known for my texture and blending in my artwork. The things that I’m most proud of are the stories of resilience that I am able to share with each piece.
In my newest series The “Gilded Goddess” I explore the beauty and divinity in imperfection. What I really want people to take away from that series is based on their identity; very simply if a person identifies as a Black or Brown woman, I hope they can see themselves in the pieces, beautiful, flawed and whole at the same time. For those of us that do not identify as Black and Brown women, I hope that we can see them as they deserve to be seen, respected as they deserve to be respected, and loved as they deserve to be loved.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My favorite childhood memory actually comes from my teenage years. My father bought a car that was older than me from my cousin for $400. The tires were bald. The AC didn’t work. There was no radio, and there were a host of other things wrong with the car, but over the course of that summer he and I restored that car. We put new rims on it. We bought a new radio, we changed the radiator. We did virtually everything you can imagine that would be safe to do in your garage to your own car.
He and I weren’t super close when I was coming up so him spending the time to teach me the things with the car, to show me how to do it, and to do it with me. It really meant a lot and it’s still a memory that I treasure to this day.
Perhaps most importantly, the lesson he shared with me was, “You can do anything anyone else can do. You might need to figure it out, but that’s where the magic happens.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.sticksandstonesbydre.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sasbydre?igsh=ODBpY2VtazJza3po&utm_source=qr
