As committed as Ray Meifert is to his art, he never has any qualms about walking away when he realizes the time he must spend on a painting has come to an end.
“Once I’ve finished and put my signature on a painting, I can look at it the same way others do,” says Meifert. “I don’t have an attachment.”
This characteristic likely serves him well since a large portion of Meifert’s work is dedicated to commissioned paintings based on photos submitted by clients. Over the years, he has painted homes, landscapes and street scenes for people living as close as his Edina neighborhood and as far away as Paris.
Although Meifert, who originally hails from St. Louis, received his Bachelor’s degree of fine arts from the University of Mississippi and his Master’s in art from Tulane University in New Orleans, he built a career in the corporate world as a marketing director for 3M.
“After graduation, I was offered a job in New York City as an ‘inker’ for Marvel Comics,” recalls Meifert. “Around that time, I was visiting an uncle and aunt in Chicago. He told me that 3M was hiring sales people. The job paid more than the comic book job and they were offering a car, so I took it.”
Over the years, Meifert, who moved back to Edina with his family in 1992, continued to draw and paint, working primarily in acrylic and oil. He received his first commission from friends when his wife, Wendy, suggested that he could create a painting from the couple’s photo of a Paris street scene. As word of mouth grew, Meifert launched “Paint Your Pleasure!” to promote his commission painting and was soon juggling life as an artist with his role in the corporate world.
“What I really enjoy about art is the fact there are no ‘must-dos’,” he says. “Anything is possible. Doing art always provides an outlet for creativity that the business world doesn’t offer.”
Meifert classifies himself as a representationalist and admires the work of artists such as Monet, Cezanne and N.C. Wyeth, father of artist Andrew Wyeth. Many of Meifert’s paintings, especially his landscapes, convey a similar impressionistic feel with their muted colors and expressive shading.
Throughout his career with 3M, Meifert has traveled extensively around the world, which informed his work as an artist. Having spent time in Australia, Latin America, the Middle East, Japan, Russia and Europe, including a long stint in Brussels in 1988, Meifert finds it particularly gratifying when he receives a commission based on a photo of a place he has seen in real life, such as a Paris café or a restaurant in Belgium.
Meifert also has sentimental ties closer to home. As a loyal “Ole Miss” alum (his daughter Dori currently attends the school as a musical theater major), Meifert has a particular fondness for Mississippi and specifically for the writings of native son William Faulkner. Last year, after reading the autobiography called Every Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi written by Faulkner’s only surviving niece Dean Faulkner Wells, Meifert struck up an e-mail correspondence with the 75-year old woman.
“I did a painting of Rowan Oak, the Faulkner home, that I was going to give to her and she was excited about it,” he recalls. “Sadly, she died unexpectedly of a stroke last July before we had a chance to meet. It is a painting that has a lot of meaning for me, so I have decided to keep it.”
Meifert was also inspired by another version of the written word when he participated in an exhibit last fall entitled “Letters from Home” at the Elmhurst Historical Museum in Elmhurst, Ill. The interactive exhibit featured letters from area soldiers dispatched to fight in the Civil War and was illustrated with paintings from several artists, including Meifert. One of four paintings he created, entitled “We Met Them Face to Face” was chosen as the exhibit banner.
“Ray has an amazing talent,” says Lance Tawzer, curator of exhibits for the Elmhurst Historical Museum. “Creating art based on these letters was really his bailiwick, because he has roots in the South. The work that he produced was by far the most responsive, detailed and directly interpretive.”
Meifert, who paints two to three hours each evening, says those interested in commission work can contact him. He doesn’t have any pieces for sale in local galleries at this time, but has a selection of work available. Information on both are available through his website. For more information about artist Ray Meifert, visit Paint Your Pleasure on Facebook or email rameifert@comcast.net
