Dennis Osborne
/biography
/bio
I'm a figurative mixed media painter/drawer. My work explores both nature and urban culture, influenced by the rust belt grit/great lakes beauty of Toledo, Ohio, where I was raised, and the diversity of the San Francisco Bay area, my adopted home.
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As a kid, I was obsessed with crayons and often participated in fierce drawing competitions with friends. Later, I took art classes at The University of Toledo and earned a B.a. in Fine Art from San Francisco State University.
In part because I grew up near Detroit and made the SF Bay area home, my work is influenced by music, including the four elements of hip hop (MC'ing, DJ'ing, break dancing, and Graffiti) and an obsessive love for water and fishing. I paint a variety of subjects: empowered female figures, musicians, fish, interesting faces, characters, and anything that leaves a lasting impression on me.
As a human being and an artist, I see my goal as celebrating life. I don't buy into the conventions of ugly vs. beautiful. I just see and capture human emotions, movement and the creativity of my subjects no matter who or what they are. I use bright colors, and bold paint strokes to represent lifelike subjects, all while impeding my own twist.
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I often show my work in the SF Bay Area, including SOMArts, ArtSF, Terra Gallery and 111 Minna to name a few. A fan of fish and fishing, I also show at local seafood restaurants. Recently, my work appeared in MidCurrent, a Colorado-based fly fishing magazine. Prints of my works are available at: