Painter shows West Chicago students how to go from idea to canvas

As a child, Sergey Cherep faced several years of partial paralysis, a result of meningitis.

The Russian-born painter lay in his bed most days, looking out the window at the clouds.

When his mother bought him a paint set to occupy his time, those clouds popped up in his artwork. They eventually became a signature part of Cherep's bright, bold paintings of nature — paintings that now are sold around the world, for upward of $11,000 a piece.

“When I was a little kid, people always told me, ‘Oh, you're not going to succeed as an artist.' It kind of motivated me to keep going,” he said. “Now, I tell all the kids, you can do anything in life. If you really desire it, and do the right thing, you can accomplish it.”

On the second day of school, Cherep shared his story of success with seventh-grade art students at Leman Middle School in West Chicago. His demonstration was complete with tubes of expensive oil paint, a cup of dirty water and wet canvases scattered about a table in the center of the room.

With his thumb through a hole, Cherep holds a wooden palette filled with a messy rainbow of colors. He dabs his paintbrush around, then grabs a small canvas and starts making quick strokes.

As he works, he explains how he starts by painting the canvas black or dark blue, how he uses lines to frame where objects will go, how every painting has a different mood, depending on how he is feeling that day.

In a matter of minutes, a small farmhouse and rolling hills come to life.

Through his demonstration, students got a better understanding of how his larger, finished paintings of sunflowers, trees and farms propped up along the whiteboard and walls of the classroom got started. In the coming weeks, they will have a chance to create their own Cherep-inspired piece, using black paper, pencils dipped in glue and pastels.

Art teacher Linda Rooney said she is hopeful Cherep's visit was “a special thing” for her students.

“I think it just will incredibly enhance their own artwork now,” she said.

Rooney discovered Cherep about 15 years ago when she bought one of his paintings in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. She introduced him to her students about seven years ago and got in touch with him in the past year to see if he might be interested in visiting next time he traveled to the Chicago area from his home near Atlanta.

“I said sure, of course,” Cherep said. “I like it because the kids are like sponges. They observe everything and then later, when they get in a creative mode, it kicks in. Then they start thinking about, ‘OK, what if I apply the colors this way?' ”

Rooney said she hopes other art teachers who hear about Cherep's visit are inspired to reach out to some of their favorite professional artists, too, to see if they could provide an in-person lesson for students.

“The artists are actually way more accessible than you think they are going to be,” she said. “When I first talked to him on the phone, I was like ‘Oh my God, I'm talking to him.' And he was so nice. You kind of just find out they're real people.”