Steve Hurst
Steven Hurst
About: Winthrop STEVEn HURST grew up in the projects on Chicago’s South Side. After high school, he had a short-lived career as a musician, playing the tenor and soprano saxophones and singing. Tired of living on the road and making very little money, he moved to New York at twenty-one, where he studied painting, illustration, graphic design and photography. His career as a graphic designer took him to Boston, back to New York, Cleveland and eventually, the Bay Area. He now resides in Point Richmond, creating time-telling art from found and repurposed items.
Steve’s mother influenced his becoming an artist. She would bring things home from work and say “I thought you could make something with this, honey”, triggering his inventive and creative instincts which have culminated into his creations today. Celebrity owners of his time-telling art include Magic Johnson (gift from the city of Richmond), Oprah Winfrey and Oprah’s dad (gifts). One of his clocks hangs in city hall in Shimada, Japan (gift from city of Richmond). Other local owners include Richmond Chamber of Commerce, former Richmond Mayor Rosemary Corbin, and a commissioned design which hangs in Mechanics Bank in Pittsburgh, CA. Three pieces were commissioned and purchased to hang in the Marin Health and Wellness Center in San Rafael, California.
Steve began his career as a visual artist in 1976. He’s had one man shows of his paintings and illustrations in Illinois, New York City, Boston, Cleveland and East Bay, California. Designing clocks began when he made two for himself in 1990. During the recession in New York in 1991, he made and sold clocks to survive, as there was no graphic design work and no one was paying money owed. The art has taken on new forms since then, but his signature style is still there, as are his signature pistachio shell hour markers on most of the designs. His new designs consist of earthy and celestial-themed creations that take on a spiritual nature. Steve states that the new themes are influenced by maturing into his sixties.
“My concerns and interests are different now and I can see it reflected in my art. It’s not my call, it’s my calling. I’m just the tool that manifests the creations.” – Steven
Website: www.stevenartclocks.com
