Phil Porter

medium: painting

Click on the image to see the full version.

Balloons Going Over a Christmas Tree Farm 2004 Painting	Bucky's House with the Hot Air Balloons 2004 Painting	Evening Moon Over the Woods 2004 Painting
The Capitol with Feuerbach Brewery 2004 Painting	Tommy Thompson's Light Rail and the Governor's Mansion 2004 Painting	Monona Terrace 2004 Painting
Neighborhood 2004 Painting	Orange Gas Station 2004 Painting	Washington, D.C.--The Nation's Capitol 2004 Painting
Winter Forest 2004 Painting

Contact information
c/o: Options, 22 N. Second St.
Madison, WI 53704
Phone Number: 608-249-1585
Email Address: philporterart@yahoo.com

Artist statement
Art makes me happy. My use of bright colors makes me happy and others happy. Regarding my philosophy of my work, it's important to paint about things that you understand, and that you paint what you like. Buildings are in my blood. Lew Porter, my great-grandfather, is the architect who designed the State Capitol, UW's Red Gym and other prominent buildings in Madison. I like to paint the buildings he designed.

I work on thirteen paintings at once. Thirteen is my lucky bingo number. When I paint, I stand in front of my custom-made easel my brother Andy built with one color on my paintbrush searching for just the right spots.

This paragraph is for those people who want to know more about me.

I'm not ashamed for people knowing about me. My family is important to me. My folks said I was mildly retarded, and things would have been a lot different if I was born when my youngest brother was, fifteen years later. I originally felt I was an outcast to society. Some thought I was good for nothing, like I was trash. Now I feel like I'm part of society and make contributions like others. I work and sell my art in the community. I feel my art is part of me and lets people know more about me. I am very nice and very pleasant to be around. I am an altogether nice guy and you would like me if you got to know me.

Biography
Phil Porter was born in 1946 in Madison, Wis. Phil was institutionalized at Southern Wisconsin Colony in Racine between the formative ages of 8 to 21 because of cognitive disabilities, seizures and hyperactivity. Porter began creating art in 1978 as a way to get away from people and the noise of life. As he says, "Art is therapy for me. It creates a whole new world."

These days, Phil finds himself doing his artwork more and more because he's getting into the sheer joy of it.

Porter likes to say he has sold more paintings than van Gogh. His work can be seen at local coffee shops in Madison, in addition to Madison's City/County Building. Phil also participates in the annual Art Fair on the Square, other art festivals, exhibits and galleries.