Trent Grooms Paintings: Abstract With A Twist Of Indoor Graffiti

Trent Grooms

Trent Grooms is a fine artist. He was born on May 21, 1988 and raised in the small town of Auburn in southeast Nebraska, about an hour south of Omaha. Trent is a very talented artist and it was a real pleasure for us to take an interview with Trent Grooms and learn some interesting facts of his biography. Happy reading to you and enjoy viewing of Trent Grooms paintings.

AP: Trent, thank you very much for finding the time to contact AstrumPeople and give us an interview. It’s a great pleasure for us. So tell us what got you started?

Trent: I remember coloring like every other kid my age, but around the age of eleven or twelve I began coping the imagery from the posters I had hanging in my room. I would draw nightly and give the drawings to my Dad as a gift. When I started getting more into music a year or so later, I started drawing the album art from the CD sleeves. During school when it was time to take notes I would inevitably end up with a page full of doodles. This habit lasts to this day, even in college classes. Except now I use my doodles in paintings and sculptures. My main artistic influence growing up would have to be my Mother. My Mom was taking art classes in college when I was born. She is still a very talented artist. I remember her in the kitchen coloring pictures with me at a very young age. “Stay inside the lines”. I’ll never forget that rule.

All in a days work, 2.5ft x 4ft Acrylic on Canvas

AP: What an amazing start! Do you have any formal education in visual art or were you self-taught?

Trent: I took art classes in public school from seventh grade until my senior year of high school. I feel that public school art is very restricting when it comes to creativity, but I still enjoyed it none-the-less. After graduation high school I went to community college for a year before failing out. I was majoring in Graphic Design, but quickly realized I did not want to spend my life in front of a computer. I worked construction and other odd jobs for a couple years before enrolling at Peru State College in Peru, NE. I was majoring in Art Education, and then changed to strictly Fine Arts. I spent four years taking numerous art classes. It wasn’t until my third year that everything my art teacher had been saying finally started to make sense. Everything seemed to click after that. Shortly after this I began searching the Internet for other artists and looking at how big the art world actually is. I dropped out of college and found that everything I was learning could be taught to myself with the help of the Internet. I’m not saying “drop out”; I’m just saying take advantage of your resources.

Breast Cancer Awareness Painting. 11″ x 14″

AP: You have a great life experience. What genre are your paintings?

Trent: I only use soft body acrylics for paint, and paint on anything I can. I like to say the genre my art falls into is abstract with a twist of indoor graffiti, since I do not tag the outdoors it’s not “real” graffiti. I’m always experimenting with abstract expressionism but I’m never satisfied with the work as much as I am when I stick with the graffiti style I’m comfortable with. Some of my expression paintings turn into backgrounds for my doodles and some of my paintings get painted over into expression paintings. It’s an endless flow of paint. When I’m dry on ideas for paintings I turn towards box sculptures. It’s amazing how different you have to think to do sculptures. Painting is just so mindless and second nature compared to creating a sculpture for me. Although I like the way they turn out, they are always a struggle.

AP: How would you describe your paintings?

Trent: I would like to think my paintings are “unique and unusual” but the truth is that nothing is really truly unique anymore. Everything in the world is a recycled idea of something else. As far as unusual goes, I would have to say the images I use are different from the norm. I have always enjoyed odd things, and I try to represent that through my work.

God, 18″ x 24″ Acrylic On Canvas

AP: Yes, your pictures are really attractive! What kind of techniques do you use to paint your pictures?

Trent: When an idea comes to me it’s usually from staring at something to long. I will stare at the floor, ceiling, doors, pretty much anything that’s around me. After a while I begin to see faces and objects. Sometimes these turn into a drawing, other times they just turn into me being the weirdo staring at the wall. I’ve also written a couple songs with lyrics describing things I’ve seen in my ceiling tiles. If I see something I like, I’ll sketch it out in detail and then use it later in a painting.

AP: This is a very interesting technique. Which artists do you use for references?

Trent: It’s hard to believe but when I was younger I never knew whose art I was looking at. I didn’t pay attention in art history, and there were no art museums near me growing up. It wasn’t until my second or third year of college that I started searching about artist. After doing so I found myself very fond of Keith Haring’s work. I also enjoy Picasso’s early work. I noticed I had a very similar style to Keith Haring when it came to line work, so I’d have to say I look at his work more than others, but try to limit myself so I can keep my thoughts pure to my own creations.

Help, Acrylic on Canvas

AP: Great that their works inspire you. What is the project you are currently working on? Please tell us about it.

Trent: I am currently working on dozens of paintings for my first solo art exhibition that is taking place in 2013. My favorite one right now would have to be an acrylic painting of four faces, two on each side. They are all staring at each other with different emotions. It has a mix of bright colors and an extensive array of line work.

AP: Cool, I wish I could see this painting! What is the formula for success in your activity?

Trent: To achieve my goals I have to set dates for myself. I mark a day on my calendar that I want a certain painting to be done, as that day gets closer, the harder I work. To keep myself going I participate in a couple contests here and there. Currently I’m working on drawings for The Sketchbook Project 2013. When I’m enrolled in school I always submit my work for student exhibitions. I’ve won a couple scholarships this way.

AP: Who is one person you would like to see interviewed on AstrumPeople?

Trent: Daniel Johnston would be an interesting interview.

Explain the Pyramids, 4″ x 3″ Acrylic on Canvas

AP: Thank you, we will definitely contact Daniel Johnston. Is there someone who supports you in your creativity?

Trent: My family has always been supportive of my artwork. I always thought it was just because they had to be since they were my family, that may be the case for some of them, but I can tell there are a few who really support me. My main supporter would have to be my lovely wife. I recently took on art as a career, and she could not be more supportive. This comes with the consequences of doing the dishes and cleaning the house, a fair trade in my opinion.

AP: That’s wonderful that your wife is so supportive! Tell us three lessons you believe are really important for every artist?

1. Don’t ever let people around you tell you you’re not good enough.
2. Do what makes you happy, don’t worry about what others say. If you’re surrounded by negative people then change your surroundings.
3. Work, work, work!

Trent, thank so much for sharing such wonderful and inspiring story on paintings. We wish you great success, happiness and amazing ideas. To learn more about Trent Grooms paintings feel free to visit his personal Facebook page.

Talk is Cheap, Acrylic on Hardboard

In one ear out the other, Acrylic on Canvas

Hieroglyphics, 18″ x 24″ Acrylic on Canvas

Contact information:

• Trent Grooms Paintings

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