Clark Stoeckley
In the spring of 2005, Clark Stoeckley received his BFA in Studio Art from Webster University in St. Louis, MO. Clark has been familiar with the business of art from the age of nine, when he began traveling to art fairs with his father, noted pen-and-ink artist John Stoeckley. Since then Clark has pursued his two artistic loves: drawing and drama, often drawing parallels between the two disciplines. "I try to see each drawing as a performance," he says. "My goal is to not only capture the audience's attention, but also to satisfy their senses with the same specificity an actor might achieve."

Clark exhibits an intense and skillful creative process. He begins by photographing subjects at different angles with diverse lighting. Once Clark develops these photographs, he lets his imagination do the work. "I mix and match my photos until I see and feel something euphoric," he says. When he eventually puts pencil to paper, Clark's goal is not to recreate the photograph, but rather to exaggerate and dramatize the subject in his own vision. He lets his senses influence the direction in which he takes the drawing. His pieces emerge as stimulating, colorful testaments to the jazzy sound of an instrument or the delicate taste of wine. With each drawing, Clark composes a veritable kaleidoscope of tones. Many soft, thin layers of Prismacolor colored pencil are blended on top of dyed paper to form each rich, unique shade. Every portion of the drawing is covered with no less than ten layers of colored pencil, with some places combining as many as thirty different pencils until the perfect shade or tone is achieved.

Often considered a Renaissance man, Stoeckley enjoys playwriting, animation, film, photography, and architecture. He owns a gallery in his hometown of Louisiana, MO. His future plans include moving to New York or London for graduate studies. Until then, this free spirit loves to travel and explore, whether it be in a kayak along one of Missouri's scenic streams or by jet halfway across the world. He takes private commissions, as well as, corporate and wholesale clients.