astroartAbout The Artist
Astro Art;
The earliest memory Astro has when it comes to art, was picking up a pencil and drawing a coffee cup that sat on the kitchen table.
The adults all stood above a gasp as they watched a 4 year old do this. This little boy was confused and already in his brilliant little mind he could not conceive that others could not do this.
In his school years Astro had poor grades…He was busy drawing pictures of the “Thing” from Fantastic 4 and Spiderman, he was determined to get the “tricky” webbing just right.
During those years Jack Kirby was his biggest inspiration to perhaps a lesser degree Mort Drucker and Don Martin.
In the tenth grade Astro had an art teacher who required one drawing a day (5 drawings a week) to be handed in on Friday.
Astro did this in his lunch hour on the Friday and created a comic strip called “Len Lemon” it had no dialogue and limited background… he smiles; “mostly because I was lazy!”
In spite of his laziness and shenanigans Astro still received an “A” at the end of the school year. His art teacher gave him another gift which was a book called “Dali by Dali”
This was Astro’s first exposure to Salvador Dali and the world of surrealism.
He would finally meet the only art teacher who ever taught him anything in grade 12, an artist in his own right by the name of Don Portelance. From this instructor Astro learned that he had the skill to paint. The crude acrylic works from back then are long gone. They were not for the public, but for him.
More than 20 years later he became inspired to paint his first piece of “serious” work {why it took so long is apparently a long story} Astro wanted to see “if he could actually do it”…mission accomplished…The result…Organica Muscaria.
Astro knew that now he needed to create his world on canvass.
In 1992 he entered his first art show…The 61st Annual Manitoba Society of Artists Exhibition Canada. The painting entered was “Air Horse 3 Towers” juried by Harry Kayooka.
The masterpiece received first place.
A year later Astro won “The Richardson Award” at the Red River Art Exhibition with his painting named “Organica Fallen”
Astro says “I am a huge fan of the band YES and Roger Dean’s cover art and stage designs are as much a part of the “YES Music” as the songs.
What doesn’t seem obvious is the fact that all of his works are painted with extreme emotions…extreme anger, lonely anguish and pureness of self channeled from his being through the extended appendage called a brush.
All those inspired by his work, can look forward to more anger, anguish, and self.
“Astro” is Marc Meilleur from Winnipeg, Canada.
No Air Brushing. No Photo Referencing.
The paintings are all signed “Astro”
