Considering that Lyons artist Lloyd Bradbury likes to post a quote of the day on his blog [www.lloydsart.blogspot.com], perhaps a wise aphorism from his No. 1 fan and wife, Maria, most suitably describes his highly expressive artistic style.
“In your dreams, you can see,” said Maria Bradbury. “When you are awake, you can’t see anything. Your dreams see everything.”
Welcome to the fantastic world of Lloyd Bradbury’s abstract art. With apologies to the Chicken Soup series, Bradbury’s “Surrealism for the Soul” approach to painting has essentially saved his life, while simultaneously providing countless viewers compelling art for thought.
“Art saves,” said Bradbury, a legally blind artist who has sold over 100 paintings. “I used art as rehabilitation. It was an expression of self for me, and self had taken a pretty good beating.”
While he suffered some vision problems as a younger man, Bradbury suffered a stroke and 18-hour coma in 1979 that left him with no vision in his left eye and severely impaired vision in his right.
“It took about five years to rehabilitate,” he said. “The reason why I paint is not only as an outlet for me, but also to show other people that have disabilities or problems, that art is a good outlet. Anybody can do it or appreciate it.”
Encouraged by his self-described “support team” of Maria and friend, Riverside resident Melissa Kotrba, Bradbury eventually took his art out of the attic, and proudly displays it in his home and in public, notably at the Riverside Library, the Riverside Arts Center and Fresh Express Café in Riverside over the years.
Three of Bradbury’s recent inspirations, which feature a “Garden Under the Sea” theme, will be auctioned off during “Battle of the Brews,” an annual event held by the Riverside Junior Woman’s Charity.
The fundraiser, which will include upscale microbrew sampling and a buffet, will be at the Hollywood Community House in Brookfield on Friday, April 11 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Kotrba, a member of the RJWC, estimates 200 to 300 people will attend the event.
“The reason why I gave these paintings to be auctioned is that I believe we should always contribute our talents to charity,” Bradbury added. “With these paintings, it’s really about how you feel. Perhaps, you feel like you’re under the sea or you feel tranquil like you’re in another world. Not only are they nice pictures, but they are emotional in their effect.”
“The reason I asked Lloyd to auction off his work is because I think he’s a good artist,” Kotrba said. “I want to get his paintings out there, because I think there are a lot of good qualities about his work.”
Bradbury uses dramatic brush strokes, a colorful array of acrylics, and his emotions during the creative process. His free-flowing approach enables himself ostensibly to serve as a conduit between his vision and the canvas.
“I get an idea in my mind, but I never really draw the picture on canvas,” he said. “It evolves with my emotions. It’s all free-hand from my mind to the canvas.”
Aided by the use of magnifiers, Bradbury often creates his paintings in portions, and the finished products depict landscapes, nature, animals, and people inspired by his emotional state at the time.
Not only is the beauty of Bradbury’s work in the eyes of the beholders, but in their varied interpretations which typically call for multiple views of his deeply layered work. Bradbury’s paintings reflect French poet Paul Valery’s assertion that, “the painter should not paint what he sees, but what will be seen.”
“People using their minds to interpret my paintings is the thrill for me,” Bradbury said. “They are genuinely interested in my painting and their feedback is what excites me to do more. I want my paintings to convey a feeling where people see something, and then they look again and see something different. That’s what surrealism is all about- you never get tired of the picture.”
As eclectic as his paintings, Bradbury is also, to paraphrase novelist Tom Wolfe, a Man in Full. He is an Army veteran, engineer, sculptor, poet, teacher, raconteur, husband and artist. While Bradbury has endured more than his share of hardships, including limited eye sight as a child and a debilitating stroke, he carries a positive attitude toward life predicated on simply enjoying every day as much as possible.
“Nowadays, I think everybody is so uptight,” Bradbury said. “People need to have an outlet to take away all the negative emotions and kind of dispel them. I feel art, music or writing are great ways for people to express their emotions.”
In addition to his own paintings, Bradbury enjoys learning about other artists like James Whistler, Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer and Dante Rossetti.
“By learning about the artist behind the painting, that’s another story,” said Bradbury, who was recently profiled on Chicago ABC 7’s ‘Someone You Should Know’. “A lot of artists had more depressing lives than we could ever have. And yet, they produced masterpieces, so why can’t we?”