Pre-post of an upcoming blog post by Robin Bond Interior Design

I thought it would be smart to post this content that I provided for a blog post by Robin Bond Design this fall. It is about how I work as a photographic fine artist with my clients who commission my art.

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BIO: Johnny Stevens was raised in Lenoir, NC, where he attended high school at Asheville School for Boys, studied photography and studio art at Fleming College, Florence Italy, psychology at Wake Forest University, and at Appalachian State studied Radio-TV-Film.  In 1980 he attended The University of Texas Graduate Film School, where he was awarded a Student Academy Award in 1982 for a short film. He founded HORIZON Film & Video, Inc. in Austin, and spent 28 years behind motion picture and video cameras producing and directing hundreds of films and videos of all genres, all the while honing his eye for balance and composition that would fuel his passion for photography. He is currently enjoying photography as his sole profession in Austin specializing in architectural, interior design, and portrait photography – which feeds his bank account, but it is the abstract  fine art photography that feeds his soul.

In terms of photographic composition, I always start by following the rules…. but only in anticipation of breaking those rules. In my abstract  fine art work my task is to discover opportunities to build mystery – to create an image that make the viewer curious. My quest is to reveal unique perspectives the ordinary that others would not otherwise see.

Although I have an extensive abstract fine art portfolio, by far my favorite collection is my Rust Rapture Series. These are all images that I photographed over the last 8 years at the Lone Star Kustom Car Roundup which attracts owners of rat rods from around the nation. Rat Rods are vintage hot rods whose exteriors have been left to the demise of mother nature – rain, wind, blazing sun, and occasionally the owner’s belt sander. The amalgam of colors and textures that I find on the exteriors of these cars is unbelievable.

Deep Sea Dive is actually about a 3 square inch section of the hood of a 1940 Willy’s Coup. I love the movement in this print. I love it so much that I hired the owner to bring his car to Austin to show it off outside of the O2 Gallery in Austin where I held my last exhibit. The crowd loved it!

1940 Willy’s Coup fine art print from Rust Rapture collection

Radioactive is extracted from the door of a 1941 Chevy sedan. The bold texture is what makes this one of my favorites – very masculine.

Radioactive fine art print from Rust Rapture collection

For those who need a hint of reality, Hidden Faces offers a visual anchor within the bold textures  – the door handle of a 1952 Chevy.

1952 Chevy Truck door fine art print from Rust Rapture collection

And one of my  best selling prints is Hidden Agenda which I discovered on the fender of a 1948 International KBL. This print has spectacular color and graces the walls of both a spectacular home on the 8^th hole of the TPC Sawgrass golf course as well as the office of a VP of Marketing in Austin. This print has rhythm!

1948-International-KBL fine art print from Rust Rapture collection

One thing I love about these Rust Rapture prints is that since they are abstract, they can often be hung as landscape or portrait prints – whichever the beholder prefers.

I enjoy being involved in the creative process of choosing from the dozens of images I have in this collection. I can crop and resize each image to fit the installation. Also creating a diptic or a triptic is easily done as I did for “Crystallized” which hangs in the lobby of a saw firm downtown Austin. Canvas is one of my favorite substrates for printing but fine art luster paper beautifully framed is always a safe way to go. Often, to make it easier for my clients, I ask them to send me photo of the wall on which they are considering installing a print – even a phone pic – and I can easily photoshop the print, scaled to size, onto the wall and send it back to them so they can see how the design and the colors of the print work with that room. It helps taking the guess work out.