An artist from our own backyard...

Back in seventh grade, I had an art teacher who was obsessed with Wayne Thiebaud.  She, Ms. Leveque, had us mimic his painting "Cakes" by bringing in a bunch of cheap deserts, like Twinkies and all that other stuff that's really bad for you.

Wayne Thiebaud's "Cakes"

I guess most of students were psyched to eat crap food for the class period, and I have to say that that was definitely not what she intended.  All the same, she did manage to introduce me so an amazing artist whom I still admire today.

Wayne Thiebaud's style is extremely appealing to me because it is uniquely his - it seems to be ultra realistic, and yet has an inherent cartoony quality that lends itself to being categorized as "pop art."  What I like so much about his work is how, the moment you see one of his paints or prints, you know who did it.

Thiebaud's work is often considered pop art not only because of its timing (he first started producing popular works right before the pop art movement), but because of his depiction of mass-produced items.  While Andy Warhol concentrated on Brillo Pads and Campbell's soups, Thiebaud stuck to cakes, pastries, and deserts (though he certainly painted other subjects - his cakes just tend to be the most well known).  This idea of mass-production is also evident in the fact that he often paints series of cakes, for example, in one artwork.  His use of repetition, saturated color, contrast, realism with a hint of surrealism, and strong shadows make his artistic style both visually pleasing and easily attributed back to him.

On an only-slightly-related note, it is also pretty cool to have such a talented and renowned artist come from so close to home.  He spent time at both UC Davis and Sac City, lived in Winters, and hung around San Jose.