Artists - Part 49

 Christopher Shellhammer

Christopher Shellhammer was born in 1962 in Pennsylvania.  From kindergarten through high school he loved painting, first watercolor and then in oils.  He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie-Mellon University.

We saw his painting Blonde with Harmonica, above, in a previous post, in which I had commented that his painting was better than his spelling, since females are blonde but males are blond.  As a painting, it's very typical of his work.

Birch Trees in Early Winter is typical of his landscape work.  He has also done many portraits of people and dogs.

But male nudes seem to be his favorite subject.  Above, After a Long Afternoon of Writing the Diary.  He says "Nudity is not sex, nor pornography.  It's the human form reduced visually into its purest state, uncensored and untainted."

I couldn't find any personal information about Shellhammer, but based on his subject matter, he's pretty clearly gay.  Above, Naked Muscle Man.

His subjects are never portrayed having sex, though they tend to be well-endowed.  Above, Nude Male Cowboy on the Blue Chair.

Most of the paintings are of single males, but where there are two, it's usually pretty innocent, like Nude Male Bathers on the Dock.

But sometimes it gets a bit more suggestive, like Anxious to Go Dipping.  Is the seated guy interested in more than going swimming?  Maybe.

Nude Male Watching leaves it up to you to decide what the watcher is thinking.

Above, Nude Male Looking Back at You.  Is this an invitation?

We end with Our Private Room.  There's no sex depicted, but it's pretty clear what's going to happen next.