"I do a lot of mental snapshots. I'll look up, see something, go back down and paint it and try to capture them that way...it gets more expressive the faster I go, I find. And then I don't think as much. I just go with more of the feeling and try to get those brush strokes just as fast as I can on there...that's when cool things really happen." - Nate Luetgers on live-painting bands.
Nate Luetgers is a Park Rapids area painter. If you've attended music at Park Rapids' weekly 2nd Street Stage or at Muskie Days in Nevis, you may have seen him at his easel painting the performers. He's often seen around the area live-painting at events. Nate also teaches painting classes to students of all ages. He'll be teaching a free painting class for kids ages 5-18 at the Nemeth Art Center this Saturday. He spoke with John Bauer on the morning show about his path as an artist, the process of live-painting and teaching painting techniques to students.
"That's what art is about. It's much like music... I always tell them, you're not going out there and playing your own songs originally, right away. You're going to learn cover songs...how to play the instrument. that's what I'm trying to teach with these paintings...you can learn from this and then go off and do your own thing."