Dennis Michael Young
Dennis Young has closed the door of his medical practice in Wilmington after 40 years to open another door into full time studio and plein air painting. Originally painting in precious little spare time at Jefferson Medical College, he put aside his brushes for thirty years to start a family and a medical office. Some thirty years later he lucked into taking a watercolor class at Absalom Jones Community Center and all the excitement of painting was rekindled.
Young paints in oils and in pastels in the realistic style with flirtations in the impressionistic style. The streets and countryside will be his on-site painting venues in the warmer months and in the winter his retreat is in his studios. His favorite studio subject is the portrait and the human form. Outside, en plein air, he gravitates to street scenes of iconic places. Living in Old New Castle has provided a wealth of subject matter to paint and his presence of his easel on the cobblestones is an enjoyable experience for residents and for tourists. He has been seen sketching or painting performing musicians in the local coffehouse, the same room in which he has led popular beginners "paint and wine" pastel classes that are always full.
This artist is a graduate of no school of art but observation and exploration push his representations. Originally influenced by Rembrandt's mastery of light and dark, the French and American Impressionists have infused color into his painting. Almost any of Young's paintings will always have that signature of bright light somewhere in the focal point as familiar to painting as vine-ripened tomatoes are to summer!
Works by Dennis Young are hanging in the homes of multiple collectors in private homes on the Eastern seaboard. His largest plein air painting graces the office of the Trustees of New Castle Commons. His art has been seen on the covers of Attraction Magazine (Eastern Shore Maryland) and the Delaware Medical Journal and multiple times on the program covers for the Day in Old New Castle and the Committee of 100. He has participated in dozens of painting competitions in galleries and outside and multiple awards and ribbons hand in his studio. One favorite was the "Best Use of Light Award" won in Easels in Frederick plein air competition featuring national artists. Just as cherished have been awards at the Rehoboth Art League with the Howard Schroeder Award for Portraiture (twice) and First Place (3) for works in teh "Human Form" show at Kent Island Federation of Art in Stevensville, MD.
Current plans are to do larger studio and plein air paintings and to expand into teaching small group and individual painting. The doctor who put aside painting for 30 years finds opportunities to exhort visitors to his easel to avoid the "what ifs?" and to fit the time into busy lives with an hour to devote to an interest or a love of some creative pursuit.
Young is a member of Oil Painters of America, The MidAtlantic Plein Air Painters Association (MAPAPA) and a signature member of The Maryland Pastel Society. He is represented by the Station Gallery in Greenville, Delaware