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Show "Art is not about money, it's about creation," said Stephen Phillips, a artist standing in front of one of his creations at Nearly Famous Salons in Farmington. Despite his work as a muralist, said abstract painting Phillips is his true calling. o me Farmington "Picasso" creates own version of Southwestern art Written by LaVerta Johnson Photographed by Jerry McBride Farmington artist has been leaving his mark recently, turning up in businesses throughout the area. His works are not hanging from the walls however, they are the waits. The murals are the product of artist, Steve Phillips. And businesses as well as private individuals are seeking his artistic eye to enhance their space. Murals add life to empty walls and separate them from the norm, says Phillips, who life-silandscapes. Another thing that separates applies large brush strokes to create Phillips walls form the norm is his subject matter. Instead of depicting typical Southwestern landscapes and scenes, he prefers an international look His murals run the gamut from Italian piazzas to Egyptian gardens and storybook land. quantity, he said. begins Phillips murals by doing a black and white on ze adds He then paper. color to the picture, and does a scale of the drawing. This way, he has a vivid idea of the finished For Phillips, who outside of mural painting pursues a career product before he arrives on the job. Once at work, he said he in modern art cubism, abstract and impressionism painting works quickly. A mural usually takes him one to two weeks to in large scale on walls is a drop in the hat. However, he explains complete, depending on the complexity of the subject and the that just because a person can draw and paint, it does not make size of the wall. them a muralist. At Nearly Famous Salon in Farmington, clients get pampered said. he work takes who in It can in a serene backdrop of Roman landscape. The mural includes an artist large scale, said in his as wall niches with elegant vases, a patio enclosed by portia vines, experience sign Farmington painter Phillips lot because both murals with a him of prepara- cos, columns, pillars, cobble streets, and folds of drapery. The require helped finished lush murals take up the entire south wall of the beauty parlor tion to achieve the product. I learned how to prime the surface and mix paints in large and blend with the already ornate decor I - pre-sket- paint-by-numb- ch er - - March 19, 1999 wall-to-w- all - Cross Currents 7 |