I am thinking of calling this page “What's Old”. It's possible that I spend way too much time revisiting the past . . .

David with Tom.

When I was 17 years old, Tom Ruble, the owner of The Virginian Supper Club , hired me to paint a picture to adorn the walls of his establishment just outside of Prescott, Wisconsin. He asked me to copy a Victorian painting of an ante-bellum mansion scene. It was my first commission. I had no idea what I was doing, (without proper art training, I didn't even know I needed to stretch the canvas before painting it!) but I was enthusiastic and stuck with it. I'm glad Tom gave me the chance to prove myself.

 

 

I saw that picture for probably the last time two weeks ago, as the supper club closed its doors. I was filled with a mix of embarrassment at the crude modeling of the faces and affection for something (and someone) who started it all.

 

 

The opening of the show.

In the same vein, my family and I recently had the pleasure of opening my show, “The Art of David Geister” in South St. Paul, at the Dakota County Historical Society's Lawshe Memorial Museum. We were joined by a number of clients and collectors, many of whom had never met, and I enjoyed being able to introduce them to one another and listen to them compare notes.

 

 

One of those attending was Charles Fred Lauder, who owns several of my paintings, the earliest of which, “The Charge of the First Minnesota at Gettysburg”, was painted in my late teens. At 6 feet in length and crammed to the gills with hundreds of small figures dressed in blue and grey, it is probably the most ambitious battle scene I have ever undertaken. Today it seems a bit rough in places, but as with so many of the early pieces, I have a fondness for it that I suspect will only increase with age.

"The Charge of the First Minnesota at Gettysburg"

 

 

 

 

When I look at those first paintings I am looking at a snapshot of history – my own history. We all have those moments when we bump into visible symbols of our youth. They give us perspective, but they also come laden with sadness. They remind us that the world has changed and some of those we loved are no longer with us.

 

 

Alright, enough about the past.

What am I up to now? Painting like a mad man in the vain hope that I will meet a rapidly approaching deadline for the illustrations in the next children's book for Sleeping Bear Press. The work is very enjoyable, with a number of scenes illuminated by firelight, and I can hardly wait to share them all with you!

 

 

Visit the archives to find out what David has been doing in the past!

The third What's New page
The second What's New page
The first What's New page