Meet one of the United States’ most exceptional artists over age 60, Robert Mazur. Mazur earned both his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in design and Master of Fine Arts from Bowling Green State University. Soon after graduating, he joined the art faculty at BGSU.
During his 33-year career at BGSU, Mazur served as director of graduate studies, head of recruitment, head of two-dimensional studies and acting director of the School of Art. Mazur held honorable awards such as being a three-time winner of the II Magnifico award from the Medici Circle for overall excellence in teaching, service and scholarly/creative activities. In 1984 and 1987, he received the Dorothy Uber Bryan Award for outstanding service to the school and its students. And in 1990, BGSU’s Undergraduate Student Government honored him as the top teacher in the College of Arts and Sciences with its Faculty Excellence Award. In 1998, Robert Mazur retired as Professor Emeritus from the School of Art at Bowling Green State University.
Throughout his career, Mazur has been featured in over 120 one-man shows nation wide and his paintings are featured in over a dozen institutional collections and galleries.
For more than three decades, Bob Mazur has taken his inspiration from photographs of water, underwater life, and moving water. He credits Ron Jacomini, former BGSU staff member and friend, for helping him start his career. Additionally, he has had numerous corporate commissions for clients like Owens-Illinois, Merrill Lynch
and Discover Magazine.
Mazur was recently featured in the March 2009 edition of The Artist’s Magazine’s cover story, “Splendid Over 60! Ten Artists Prove Age Is Just a Number.” After submitting photos of his eight acrylic paintings, Mazur was chosen as one of the top 10 artists from more than 1,500 applicants.
Mazur’s large striking acrylic works draw their creative energy from wonders of nature by using midnight blues, gorgeous greens and punctuated with bursts of bright aquatic tints. Mazur’s painting method uses up to 18 layers of thick paint to create the ocean waves and depth in his work. The “Water” series has become his signature series where the pieces draw inspiration from the wonders of the underwater world. Mazur explains, “On a sabbatical about 20 years ago, I went to the Florida Keys and did some diving. I took underwater photos with cheap cameras and came up with photos of jellyfish and barracudas, with the sunlight coming through and the divers coming down.”
His original acrylic and oil paintings sell for up to $5,500 depending on the size, while the fine-art reproductions available online are in the $120 to $350 range. Bob Mazur does not have a web site but reproductions of his oversized, contemporary work is available online at AmericanFrame.com and Target.com
