“I’ve always thought that, to buy paint, you should have to show your work or show some kind of diploma. You know, you can’t buy anesthesia unless you’re a doctor.”

David Bowers, a 1979 Art Institute Visual Communications graduate, is a true Renaissance man. By “Renaissance” we mean that his body of work could have been created by the Masters. His extraordinary paintings have a surreal, dark, and symbolic quality about them; as he explains on his Web site www.dmbowers.com, he uses oil pigments on woven linens and panels, much like the old Masters did.

His paintings have appeared on the covers of Time, Wine Spectator, and Cigar Aficionado. He’s also created over 150 book covers and has won numerous awards, including three “Best of Show” awards from the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles.

David recently exhibited his work in a London show titled “The Art Of Living.” His work was exhibited alongside the paintings of Monet, Rembrandt, Warhol, and Chagall. As he says, “It was a thrill to be included with such great company!”

We recently talked with David about his work.

What are your sources of inspiration?

Ideas just come out of the blue for me. There’s one painting on my Web site called “The Hummingbird Trainer” which was inspired by going to an antique store and looking at a birdcage. The idea came just like that. I’m going to have a one-man show in London next year at the Halcyon Gallery and one of the paintings for the show is called “The Human Puppet Show.” It was inspired by a window display that I saw when I was in Paris two years ago. So, a painting is usually derivative of something that I’ve seen, and then it turns into something else. I did one painting called “The Pod People” and that idea came from going to the Carnegie Art Museum’s international show one year and seeing these bronze globs that really didn’t look like anything. But, when I walked into the room, they kind of looked like these little pod people, so then I came up with the idea of this Renaissance woman planting pod people in a field. That’s the way ideas come. There’s no real rhyme or reason to them. Sometimes I look at old master paintings and then I see a twist in one of their ideas. Sometimes it just starts with just doodles.

Do you think of yourself as an illustrator, painter, or both?

I’ve been an illustrator for a long time and because of what’s happening with this gallery show, I’ve pretty much given up the illustration business right now. I’ve been very fortunate to have been busy for the last 15 years.

It’s cool when corporations spend money to use your work for a magazine cover. But, when individuals reach into their pockets and spend their own money to take your painting home, and it goes into their collection, and then gets passed down through generations in their family… I don’t know, there’s just something really magical about that.

In terms of your own art, what would you like people to come away with?

I guess, from a technical standpoint, that there are people out there willing to work this hard. A lot of art is just silly. It’s gotten uglier and uglier and now it’s to the point of cow dung stuck on canvas. I’ve always thought that, to buy paint, you should have to show your work or show some kind of diploma. You know, you can’t buy anesthesia unless you’re a doctor.

Speaking of diplomas, what would your advice be to students entering school?

See other people’s work; it shows you where you are with your art. Most of the kids that go to The Art Institute are the best in their town or at their high school. Now they’re all finding out that there are ten people in the class who are better than they are. So, it gives you a good sense of where you’re at with your work. When I used to teach I’d say, “Don’t even attempt to be an illustrator until you know what your competition is doing.” Once you feel you’re as good or better, go after it. But before that, work hard at it and develop your own style.

I work seven days a week. In my free time I go to museums. I travel the world going to museums. And that’s all I do. Art. Art. Art. It’s my life. I got everything else out of my system when I was younger. So that’s another piece of advice: Students should try to have a good time, too.