Robert Schilke
Robert works mainly in watercolor with high grade cold press paper. Most all of his work will encompass Landscape and waterscapes from many of his travels around the world.
His watercolor style is unique, in that he builds water colors like in oil paintings, to create realistic tones, colors and details. This style creates a three-dimensional painting. His ability to recreate the actual color of Caribbean Sea is his trade mark. The realistic creations look like a photo at times.
He started his early years with pastels and oils, spending most of his life living on the water. Continuing through secondary private school in Milford, Ct., and followed through college in Maine with a primary focus on oils while finishing a degree in Business. He didn’t want to be a starving artist. While working in his own contracting business and teaching at the New York Botanical Garden, he continued to attend private lessons, and attend Silvermine Art School in New Canaan, CT. where he advanced his attraction for water color painting.
In the early years he traveled and displayed in many New York, New Jersey Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine and Caribbean island, local shows selling mainly original oils and watercolors.
He was chosen as one of the few honored with the Amateur Artist Award with two of his paintings traveling the world in a display for young artist. Awhile on vacation in the Cayman Islands BWI, he continued working in water colors and the Caribbean life and seascape. The Cayman Islands chose his paintings to represent the covers of the Cayman National Banks yearly Calendar’s which were sent around the world to clients, distributed to visitors and the banking community. With 5 galleries on the islands for many years, he was considered a local islander. He produced a series of Limited-Edition Lithograph prints, sold exclusively from the island galleries along with many originals. He started the production of “Miniature” paintings and prints that are now duplicated by many artists.
He has concentrated on watercolor paintings, since his friend and mentor John Stobart is the master in maritime paintings, he wanted to be different, and continue to use similar subjects’ locations and style from their travels.
His work has been in local shows in New England area, in local galleries in Katonah, NY, Stamford, CT, Mystic Ct., Block Island RI., Friendship, Me., and the Cayman Islands BWI and by personal private viewings and collectors. Most work is commissioned and private now.
