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Mike Klung
A newcomer to painting, Mike Klung has worked for fourteen years as a framer
and mat designer. "I like to try new things," he says. "I'm always thinking,
'What's next?'" "So, in 2000, I thought I'd try some painting.
Klung wasn't tempted to take an art class. "I like experimenting. I'm the
type that if I took a class I probably wouldn't pay any attention. I want to
do things my way. Maybe it's the artist in me. It was trial and error. I
didn't really know what I was doing. I liked color and I'd always liked trees. I grew up playing in the woods all the time when
I was a kid. So I put those two together."
Klung's primary-hued treescapes, dream-like and serene, sold well from the
start. "The first landscape I did, I was kind of embarrassed. I didn't want
to hang it in my shop in Baton Rouge. At that time, I owned a shop in
Mandeville. I figured they could take the criticism. So I sent the painting
there. And within a week or two it sold! I'm thinking, 'It's just luck.' So
I painted another and sent it to Mandeville. It sold real quick too. After I
sold four or five paintings there, I started hanging them in my shop here in
Baton Rouge. My clients said 'Oh, you're painting now!' They liked my stuff
and bought it."
Klung's trademark trees are described as "mixed media," and really are. He
paints in acrylic on canvas, with an underground of gesso containing a
startling range of textures. Embedded in the gesso are a wide variety of
objects, from screens to leaves and pieces of wood. "I just find stuff
around the house and throw it in there," says Klung. "The most unusual thing
was probably when I was ripping carpet out of my son's room. I used the
padding in a painting. It gave it a nice deep texture."
"Most of my trees are surreal," says Klung. "You wouldn't see trees like
that anywhere." While the Baton Rouge native's familiarity with Louisiana
landscapes has influenced his painting, he firmly asserts: "Most of my stuff
is from my head." The painter has been startled by fans who've sent him
photos--most recently from Tennessee--of real trees that resemble his
imaginary ones.
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