Spring Cleaning, June Newsletter

The past month has been less painting and more focused on selling my artwork. I was going to hold off on the newsletter after completing one of the paintings I’m working, more likely “Circus Act”, but I felt it was best to not try and rush that piece in order to get this month’s newsletter out sooner.

So in lue of showing what I have completed, I’ll give some previews of work in process projects.

• Circus Act Is a clown standing trial for crimes of being a menace to society.
• Young Man Is of course me, Ben YOUNG, sitting in a room. Likely annoyed.
• Silver Ballet Inspired by the residents in the nursing home I work in, that I grow close to and lose. An elderly woman gracefully dances ballet.
• Pike’s Cabin Is another Ohio Appalachian landscape, just because I felt like it, and need another landscape in my body of work.

Spring Cleaning Sale

I know, spring is almost over. But… I need to free up some space in my studio office for new work. I will be offering 50% off certain originals I no longer have plans for to tour with on exhibits. I will list below the originals that will be on sale this summer:

Going Viral

My newsletter followers jumped a lot this past month. Why? Besides my constant advertising to grow my followers, I decided to try Reddit. I was a little bit shocked when I became the 2nd most upvoted all-time posts in two subreddits. That was Okay Now in r/PortraitArt, Embrace in r/Painting, and then again with In The Dark in r/PortraitArt. For those of you joining me, here are those pieces:

Embrace really hit it big, spiking my web traffic. With over 3.9 Million views and 74,000 upvotes.

Massillon Public Library Display

I was excited to get a call from Massillon Public Library recently, with them asking me to be the first one to be a “resident artist” to display my artwork in their main loby entrance. Only for the month of June. I will be setting up that display on the 9th and it will be on display for the rest of the month. It will be limited reproductions only, due to the constrained space.

As I get more comfortable providing the full contexts of my narrative paintings, this display will include descriptions with much more upfront and transparent explanations. I lived in Massillon for five years and a lot of my current and future pieces are of my time in Massillon. I highly recommend to check it out, if you are in North East Ohio.

Upcoming Exhibits

I still have the 2025 Ohio Watercolor Society exhibit, at Springfield Museum of Art coming in September. Stay tuned for more upcoming shows.

Newsletter Winner

Now what most of you have been waiting for, the free limited reproduction drawing!

The winner is…

Olivia W. from Jacksonville, FL

An email to the winner has separately been sent out to claim their prize.