Logan Walden’s Art Journey Away From Ohio and Back Again
Logan Walden grew up in Preble county, with a father known for his wildlife artwork, his mother who performs in local theater productions, and brothers who were all creatively minded like himself. It is no wonder that he grew up to be a passionate visual artist focused on painting.
While his life journey has taken him to a variety of exciting places, he now proudly calls Hamilton home, enjoying the benefits of having a local community committed to the arts.
“My friend showed me Artspace and we got a DORA and saw Marcum Park,” says Walden. “This is a place that’s on the up and up; it’s not just revitalization, it’s an energy here.”
Walden went to film school in Florida before spending time both there and in Los Angeles working in the film industry.
“I worked in reality television, which was a really booming industry at the time,” says Walden.
Walden realized he was looking for a different life and lifestyle, one with more space for his art. Places like Los Angeles had become very expensive, and maintaining a home and studio spaces were increasingly out of reach for him and many other creatives.
Walden did some traveling to a variety of festivals, including a memorable experience at an arts and music festival called Lightning in a Bottle in 2010. Here he saw more of the science-fiction, surrealistic artwork that he so loved drawing himself, but hadn’t seen celebrated as much as more traditional painting subjects.
“That was where I saw what a transformational music and arts festival could really be about,” explains Walden. “I saw people at festivals painting things they were imagining out of their heads, and I wanted to know how they were doing it for a living, since I drew things like that in my sketchbook all the time.”
Walden combined a move back to Ohio with a realization that it was time to get serious about the art he really wanted to be doing. He started working with his father to hone his artistic skills in painting in particular.
“My Dad, Christopher Walden, is a master, making a living off of his acrylic paintings,” Walden says. “When I came to him, he was really excited and over the years of perfecting my craft, he’s mentioned a couple of times, ‘this is your best one yet,’ or ‘you really got a handle of lighting and composition in this one.”
Walden wears a variety of hats, artistically: this summer, he’s the designer for a Streetspark mural in Hamilton, while doing commissioned and personal painting projects in his local studio and working on his long-term project, a graphic novel.
“It’s been a dream of mine to make this masterpiece book,” he says. “I wanted to learn how to tell a story in frames so I took a cartoon drawing class at the Fitton Center, which was part of how I got to know Hamilton.”
Through his experience of Hamilton, he’s met interesting people and found that this community has dynamic elements to help an artist. He’s found a large studio space to rent affordably in Hamilton, only a quick bike ride from his downtown apartment. He hopes that, in the coming months and years, more artists will see the value that the many Hamilton arts organizations bring to the community of Hamilton and will choose Hamilton as a home base.
“I love that I can get on my bike and ride to my studio and work on my art. You can’t really put a price on that,” he says. “I’d love, down the road, to have a fleet of artists in my studio building and have art walks with them.”
Want to see more of Logan Walden’s art? Check out his website, loganwaldenart.com