The Artist Living Across from Parker

Not far from a 360 gallon saltwater tank full of twenty fish and numerous Elephant Ear plants and philodendrons in camel-colored pots, two by three foot paintings lean against and cover brick walls inside Josh Moulton’s Fine Art Gallery directly across the street from Parker.

In the left corner of his gallery on a recent Saturday, Moulton sits on a stool holding a white styrofoam plate covered with globs of at least ten different pastel colors of acrylic paint.  Originally from Detroit, Moulton, who is 38 and has been in his current location for almost five years has a never faltering smile, very blue eyes and slightly balding hair.

He paints four paintings at a time, switching back and forth between each, and using red paintbrushes covered with smears of old paint.  Each canvas shows a sketch in pencil of the general shape of the picture, and Moulton smears the colors on to create a realistic and lively feel.

Currently Moulton is working on two commissioned paintings–one of a polo player on a horse and another of a wedding downtown.  The other two pieces are based on his own photographs–one of multicolored houses over a river in Manarola, Italy, and another of the train stop at Armitage.  At first glance, his pieces look like real photos – every inch of the paintings is covered in fine, boldly colored brush strokes which make the pieces detailed and realistic.  

“What I like most about Moulton’s work is when he finds a moment that would have gone unnoticed and makes it beautiful,” art teacher Caroline Gardner said. “I like his less traditional choices for paintings, like a fence or angle of a car.”

The thirty or so completed paintings that cover the gallery consist mostly of scenes from Chicago–beige skyscrapers in front of the sky, a train heading towards the skyline, a butcher slicing fresh red meat in a deli. Chicago paintings sell the most, Moulton said, but still he sets others around the world in places such as Italy, New York, New Orleans, Croatia, Northern Michigan, and Detroit. Moulton typically takes his own photographs and later paints them.

“Taking pictures comes instinctively to me, and I see composition very well, so I know what looks right and whether or not certain subjects are in the right area of the scene,” Moulton said.  “It’s of something interesting, something you think you wouldn’t see everyday, and once you make it a painting, it’s a lot more interesting than just walking by it everyday.  It kind of jumps out at you.”

After taking his photographs, Moulton prints the desired ones and pins each to a canvas. On the canvas, he begins to work on the painting itself.  Once it’s done, he takes high resolution photos of his painting and saves them on his computer to make prints, which he then produces on a large printer in his gallery and then frames. The prints come in three general sizes, ranging from 11 by 14 inches to 28 by 36 inches, and cost $20 to $200.  His original artwork sells for around $2,500 to $5,000, whereas commissioned pieces go for less.

Visitors interested in commissioning a painting fan through hundreds of photographs to find a basis for a painting, while others peruse larger sized prints, or search the walls for an already completed painting.  Around 20 people come per day on the weekends, Moulton said, with fewer on weekdays.  Customers include the occasional Parker student or parent, such as one who bought a gift certificate for her friend’s wedding, and even the United States ambassadors from Turkey and London.

Much of his commissioned work is done for corporations, offices, and other Chicagoans who admire his artwork, Moulton said, while many of his independently conceived pieces are bought from tourists trekking by his shop after a visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  

One of the reasons for Moulton’s choice of location was that it was right across from Parker.  

“I thought that I could tap into some of those families, and I have somewhat,” Moulton said.  “I thought during pickup time it would be a good time because parents are waiting for their kids, and they might pop in, but that hasn’t happened as much as I’ve hoped.  I think they’re too focused on what they’re there for–getting their kids.”

Moulton went to a school very similar to Parker, he said.  His father, Conrad Moulton, was a well known New York painter from whom Moulton acquired his interest in painting at an early age.  

Moulton received a scholarship to pursue art at Lake Forest College and became an art major. After graduating, he worked a desk job at a cubicle in an office.  

“It was terrible–so boring, everyone was miserable,” Moulton said.  Working as a painter, however, “I get to do what I love, which is great, and I don’t think many people get to say that.”

After his office job, he started painting full time and was represented by galleries in places such as Winnetka, Chicago, and Santa Fe.  Those galleries took half of the money from each of his paintings, however, so Moulton decided to open up his own gallery.  

“One of my favorite parts about painting is the reaction I get from people when I’m finished with a painting,” Moulton said. “When I’m working on a piece, I’m excited about it, and I think it’s going to be great, and when I put it up on Facebook or Instagram or something like that, I can get a greater reaction from those people.  That’s exciting, and I look forward to that, and I also look forward to selling them.”

Check out Moulton’s work at http://www.joshmoultonfineart.com .