Brian Mathus working in his studio in Dayton’s McCook Field neighborhood.
“I have been drawing as long as I can remember” Brian told me. “Then at age 16 I started to paint. I remember that one of my earliest painting projects caused some problems. I did a large painting on the wall of our family’s apartment and then had to raise $500 to return the wall to its original condition.”
“When I lived in Oregon I got some excellent art training. I eventually joined with several friends who were painters and we started our own gallery. It gradually grew to be successful. We even had some shows in Los Angeles and in China.”
“In 2008, when the economy tanked, our gallery went out of business. I went into the National Guard then and was posted several different places. I fell away from painting and didn’t think I would ever be an artist again”
“After my wife (also a painter) and I moved to Dayton we spent some time getting jobs and working on our home in Dayton’s Five Oaks neighborhood. Then one day we visited some studios at The Front Street Building Co. and it made us remember how much we had enjoyed painting. We rented a studio at Front Street and later moved to our current studio at 901 North Keowee. We are here painting most weekends, and we’re always open on First Fridays.”
The best place to follow Brian’s work is on Instagram at @mathusb.
