Doug Lew

  

The expressive brushwork of Doug Lew has left an indelible delight on thousands who have enjoyed his work. No matter what the subject; landscapes, seascapes, figures, street scenes, motion studies, or interiors, his treatment is always fresh and full of surprises. And yet, the application is always firmly rooted in unerring draftsmanship.

 

His style encompasses many moods from the dusty shafts of sunlight in an old world train station to screaming sea birds on a rocky ocean coastline. His treatment of light and shadow brings a dramatic depth to his paintings.

 

Born in Shanghai, Lew came to the United States in 1948 at the age of 15 to attend Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. He studied painting with Leon Engers, and received his BFA and MFA from Bradley. After college he pursued a commercial art career. This disciplined experience refined his ability to draw. He was trained extensively in his homeland in calligraphy, and sees watercolor as a natural extension of that age-old Chinese tradition.

 

Lew moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1974 and has worked many years as a commercial artist and art director for advertising agencies in the production of television commercials.

 

He has exhibited his watercolors in numerous one man and group shows, and received the Merit Award for Southwest Artists in 1973. Lew, who is a member of both the Midwest Watercolor Society and the North Star Watercolor Society, has received awards from each for his work. He received the North Star's Award of Excellence in 1978, and the Midwest's cash award in 1977 and First Place Watercolor in 1982. His works are in such corporate collections as IBM and Honeywell, along with many private collections.