Art is a means of visual communication.

Artist Dorran Russell states this: “Art is the fountain we all drink from. Look around you, all things your eyes rest upon were designed by artists—your clothing, the carpet, buildings, chairs, colors, and sometimes even designer smells. Artists communicated with their people long before the word was written. Their paintings are on cave walls and were used to explain the hunt and plan the next meal—the first grocery list.”

The first symbols for writing words and numbers were artistic in nature—representing things. The Chinese have characters, with tens of thousands of word symbols. Hebrew developed from Paleo-Hebrew. Its last letter is called “tav” and looks like the crucifixion cross.

Russell says that art is an indicator of the condition of mankind. It is no surprise to him that art’s reflection of society now offers only “shock value.” As today’s culture continues to shift deeper into shock mode, in all areas of life, so too does art. Today’s post-modern art includes brains, feces and vomit splattered on canvas. Russell despises this type of “so-called” art, calling it “agitation—like fleas being poured down your shirt.”

Dorran Russell teaches that art has been “a continuous unbroken record of humankind.” What artists think and create today will show following generations who we were.

Today a remnant of true artists adhering to art with meaning hand off the torch of light, beauty and value to the next generation. Dorran Russell is such a person.

Raised in the military, Russell traveled the world from the South Pacific to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. His artistic talent was recognized in elementary school, where he began winning awards. During his youth, he entered the Air Force and spent time studying the human body for his job as a medic. In the military, Russell worked in obstetrics and pediatrics and created a 26 foot painting for a medical facility, which began his career, brought him to the notice of a visiting general, the Air Force Times Magazine, print media and artist guilds. Dorran later graduated from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale with honors and opened his own art studio.

Dorran Russell developed new styles of art, which have caught the attention of collectors worldwide. Relic Art was one form—Russell has sold more than 300 pieces. Each uniquely framed, as if a relic--a piece of a temple wall, found, and as a precious treasure rehung. Some are designed as cracked fragments of a whole, mounted closely together, as if an earthquake has shaken them to the ground and they have been restored. Relic Art keeps alive oral traditions of ancient cultures, just as the art within a Greek Orthodox church tells the story of Jesus and His disciples.

Relic Art is enormous both in space and action. Russell’s framed paintings do not hang in simple corners, but are the main attraction, drawing eyes to see and encompass all that there is at once, just as Cirque du Soleil performers enter a massive stage from many entrances with theatrical displays pulling eyes from place to place.

Dorran Russell is also well known for his creation of Sculptural Shadow-Box Paintings that house sentimentals.

Dorran Russell has just finished The Faceted Violin Concerto, involving elements of cubism and realism. Russell continues his practice of painting each evening. By day, he is head of art at Morningside Academy, a private school in Port St. Lucie, Florida. He states, “I am dedicated to aesthetics and teach my students not to accept shock art, but to keep the boundary of what is good. This past season, his students took 44 awards out of 60 entrances at the Florida state-level fine arts competition.

You may reach Dorran Russell online at dorran.russell@yahoo.com or 772.626.8280.

Hometown Heroes