ABOUT DERON COHEN:

Deron Cohen was born and raised in San Diego, California where he has shown his paintings extensively. Deron received a Bachelor in Fine Art from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1994 and has been creating art ever since. Most recently, he has been in group shows at Gallery 3060, Limbo Fine Arts, and Sushi Gallery, as well as one man shows at the Playa Gallery and the Nico Gallery , in Seattle, Washington.

Through SanDiegoArtKids.com, Deron has been creating curricula for school art programs and teaching. Deron has also been teaching painting courses to adults at the San Diego Art Department in Northpark.

When he is not painting in the studio or teaching, he is collaborating with Paint Night Group and talking about himself in the third person.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

"The act of creation is a very spiritual thing to me. When I am creating, I tap into a Source outside of myself. I never know the subject matter of a painting when I lay down my first brushstrokes. I start each painting by creating an unplanned composition of lines. Those lines begin to form images and those images begin to tell a story. I let the Source conduct my creativity and I perform the painting. A whole world that doesn't exist anywhere but in my imagination spills out onto the canvas.

In my paintings I often depict stories and myths in which I try to communicate philosophical ideas or questions related to the human experience. Regardless of the small differences that exist between humans of different ethnicities, religions and geographical locations, we have the same basic needs and face many of the same problems. Love, War, Peace, Spirituality, Birth and Death are all themes that find their way into my artwork.

As I continue to learn more about life and painting, I feel I'm on the right path. If there is one thing that I can say with certainty it is that I am happiest when I am creating. When I am thinking creatively and producing something that wasn't there before, I know that I am fulfilling my purpose in life. I believe that being creative is a gift, but it is a gift that everyone possesses. I have developed my gift over many years and am very happy to share it with you. I hope that it has a positive impact on you in some way."