Biography of Rusty Speck

Painter Rusty Speck, a Texas native was born in Midland and reared in Houston. He always had a creative passion for painting, music and photography. In high school he won two scholastic art awards. Later he attended college at the University of Houston and won two national art awards in painting/sculpture and second place at the Houston Livestock Art Show. His chosen media were oils, acrylics and watercolors. Rusty earned his BFA degree and traveled to Europe to study Art & Humanities. While there he visited seven breathtaking European countries.

Rusty has had many interesting occupations over the years and his professional life still flourishes. Starting out as a glam rock musician playing professionally in the 70’s the group opened for several well-known musicians of the era. Speck also worked in the Applied Arts field as a graphic/interior/industrial design artist. He also served as Art Director for several publications.

Speck owns and operates successful two North Texas based businesses and manages a staff of thirteen employees, a printing/publishing company operating over the last 25 years, and a digital imaging company of 10 years.

Rusty has taught art/photography classes and given seminars on painting techniques. He also offers an individualized instruction program. “Andy Warhol was a genius, especially with mixed media (photography to silk screen).” “He dealt with the icons of the times and didn’t have to deal with religious or political oppression on art like others in times past.” Like Warhol, Rusty also mixes media—photography, watercolor and painting techniques. His remastering process is lengthy, combining these methods is Speck’s trademark.

Winning first place awards in Vail, CO (twice), Miami, FL and Riverfest Art Show in Little Rock, AK for painting. Speck also won first place five times for his poster art. Recently he had the best-selling poster at Bayou City Art Show in Houston, TX. His poster sales shattered the previous sales record of 29 years. Rusty’s silk screen T-shirt designs have been used in 10 different art show venues across the U.S.

Traveling over a quarter of a million miles for art shows Rusty still continues to sell his fine art at exhibitions across the United States. A wide variety of subjects are available from whimsical, avant garde and decorative. Rusty is also available to create a stylized personal portrait on request, E-mail him at art@speculations.net. Visit his web site at www.speculations.net for a complete listing of current work.