Today we’d like to introduce you to Benji Alexander Palus.
Hi Benji Alexander; it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I was one of those kids that loved making art of any kind – crayons, pencils, play-doh, paint, construction paper, markers, and legos; I even learned needlepoint and crocheting by the time I was six or seven, and I was always encouraged and singled out as having a gift – in first grade I taught an art lesson to my class, lol! By my senior year in high school, I spent six periods a day in the art department, including lunch. Yet, despite all that, it wasn’t until my mid-twenties that it even occurred to me that I could someday earn a living just by painting. I grew up in Pittsburgh, which was still a steel town back then – very blue collar, and those artists in galleries and museums seemed like they lived in a different world that I would never have access to. Being mostly self-taught, I only knew a few artists and had no connections to the art world. But then, when I was twenty-six, I moved to New Orleans, and all that changed. I was surrounded by art and artists! I lived two blocks from Royal Street, with art galleries on every block. My first job was on Julia Street, the heart of the city’s art district. It all seemed within reach. Some early advice from a gallery director helped me find my artistic identity as a figurative painter, a path I’ve always remained on since.
You wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
Early on, overcoming rejection was my first big challenge. Once I felt I had enough good work, I researched galleries in New Orleans and across the country and sent out forty portfolios. Universally rejected! I had to come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t nearly as good as I thought I was and that I needed to exponentially improve my skills if I was going to vie for a spot among the incredibly talented artists working in figurative realism. That brings me to my next big obstacle: alcohol. After a couple of years in New Orleans, I’d started bartending, and I must admit that I embraced the late nights running into early mornings soaked in booze. Don’t get me wrong, I was having a great time, but art needs dedication and time.
Eventually, I sunk into a depression that I was letting my artistic endeavors slip away. I’d finish one or two paintings a year – a laughable effort. I honestly don’t remember what pulled me out of that, but after a few years, I slowly began drinking less and painting more until I felt like an artist again. Of course, that’s when my biggest life challenge came out of the blue. The younger son of my closest friend was diagnosed with a deadly form of leukemia just two weeks after his second birthday. I loved that child like my own. I was at the hospital for his birth, there for his first steps, had changed hundreds of his diapers, and rocked him to sleep. The following years were a nightmare of fear and pain while he fought the disease. We lived at the Children’s Hospital for weeks at a time.
All else was set aside, including art. Four years later, almost to the day, I held his lifeless body in my arms and was overcome with grief that I couldn’t have conceived could exist—the next three years passed in a haze of grief for me, his parents, and his poor brother who was now an only child. But then, his baby sister was born, bringing a light and a new reason to live and feel joy into our lives. Long-forgotten inspiration returned to me. I began a new series of paintings, the first of which was that baby girl on her mother’s lap. I will always feel the pain of our loss every day, but since that little girl was born, I have painted and worked to grow as an artist like never before. I sometimes feel like her everything.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an oil painter in the style of figurative realism. My work is a study of feminine strength and beauty experienced through the bond of friendship. My journey as an artist has always focused exclusively on just a handful of women, dear friends with whom I’ve grown and shared adventures, good times and bad, tears and laughter, dreams and disappointments. I find inspiration in the intimacy of close friendship. My paintings are more than compositions; they are revered memories, each incredibly dear to me. I am fascinated by deep inner strength tempered by suffering and self-reliance. This is so beautiful to me that I need to express it on canvas, to share it with the world. It has taken me twenty-five years to realize that this is the common thread that runs through the hearts of each woman I am compelled to paint. I paint a smile, a tear, a look, knowing that underneath exists an entire universe. It’s a glimpse of that universe that I share with my work, striving to find something more than myself; better. In delving into my perceptions of the feminine struggle and ideals, I find a subject eternal in its mysteries, nobility, fallibility and resilience, and capacity for love.
What’s next?
In the future, I plan to spend the next few decades pursuing two separate types of series, basically dividing my career as an artist in two. On the one side will be a series of series that each take place with a different muse in a different location. I’ll be starting the first later this year, painted from references I gathered across Italy. When that series is finished, I already have others ready to go – in Rio de Janeiro, and another traveling all over Nebraska (a surprisingly beautiful state!), and plans for future travels to the U.K., Patagonia, Iceland, and on and on. I would have to live a thousand years to paint all the places I want to, haha! On the other side will be a continuation of a series I’ve already finished, exploring the fascinating and emotional qualities of colored light. These works will be darker, more personal, and less traditional. The next takes place entirely in a bathtub bathed in blue light, but I also have references for a series of work from several photo shoots I’ve done under black lights, although how to capture those neon colors with oil paint is something that I haven’t figured out yet, lol. But then, if I already knew how to do everything I want to, there’d be no reason to keep painting!
Pricing:
- Low end: $950-$1100
- Mid-range: $2400-$5000
- High end: $8000-$17,000
Contact Info:
- Website: benjialexanderpalus.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/benji.a.palus.art
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/BenjiAlexanderPalus
Image Credits
Artist photo by Bob Graham, Artwork photographed by Jason Kruppa
