Dennis Kleidon |
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The Designer
Kleidon began his career working for two architectural firms in the Chicago region, but his love for art and design led him to continuing his study at Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master’s degrees. Kleidon was dedicated to academia and decided to continue his career in higher education at the University of Illinois and the University of Akron as a Professor of Art. In 1975, he co-founded Kleidon & Associates, a marketing communications firm serving clients in the United States and Europe. As a team of writers and designers, Kleidon & Associates worked with hundreds of companies and won regional and national awards for excellence in design, writing and marketing communications. In addition to serving the business community, Kleidon created Designer Grids, a three-point perspective system for helping designers and illustrators. These and other products that Kleidon designed were used by architects, designers and artists worldwide. In 2013 Kleidon was given the Distinguished Sales and Marketing Award by the Sales & Marketing Executives International and in 2019, Kleidon was awarded the Silver Award for Lifetime Achievement by the regional Advertising Federation.
In 2000, Kleidon co-founded Kleidon Publishing. His publishing company designed, edited and produced art books, magazines, novels and business books for writers and business executives. Many of these publications won awards for excellence in design.
The Artist
Dennis Kleidon paints on canvas and on archival paper, bringing abstractions to brilliant life on meditative backgrounds that serve to increase their power. From a distance, you can feel the pull of deep vortexes, tumble down a waterfall or pirouette into a graceful dance of shapes and colors. Up close, you can see feathers or ripples bounding on a beach and wonderful integrations of concentric lines and color details. At any distance, bold strokes demand your attention, moving in unison across huge curves, flowing in magical colors.
His Taliesin series paintings, with textured backgrounds, are inspired by the colors and textures of the magnificent boulders used to build the walls of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West. Dozens of visits to Wright’s Arizona campus have instilled a deep respect for the materials and design details of Wright. Kleidon has enjoyed many sessions photographing the exquisite textures and colors within the boulders at the Taliesin campus. The textures and strength of the rocks inspired these Zen-like paintings, splitting the peace, orderliness and mystery of stone to reveal the creative spark of an idea, of desire, of the life force within. Another series of paintings is similarly linked to nature, especially his Wind, Waves and Turbulence series, inspired by decades of sailing in the turbulence of crashing waves and the unpredictable forces of wind on the sails. His work captures the live motion of the artist’s hand, layering spontaneity with control, and in that way, inspiring the viewer to see a fresh reality.
In a recent series, paint explodes out of the graphic borders to express an aggressive dynamic over the thoughtfully relaxed background textures. Appropriately enough, this series is called Unleashed, a title shared by a book Kleidon has written called Unleash Your Imagination: Transform Your Life, which encourages his readers to unleash their imaginations as a way of finding their hidden passions. Another recent series titled Transformation, symbolizes the conversion that takes place as one transforms their life to a new and exciting future vision.
Always a teacher, Kleidon wants the freedom, power and optimism of his paintings to enrich the lives of all who see and own them. “Experience the excitement of bold colors in motion and their abstract implications. Become saturated with their visual potential.”
The Author
Dennis Kleidon is the author of a book titled, Unleash Your Imagination: Transform Your Life. "Each of us has a purpose in life, and it is up to us to find out what that purpose is." His book takes the reader through a journey of self-discovery, showing how innovation and optimism can be transformative. By unleashing your innate creativity and using proven design thinking, you can identify your mission in life, put problems in perspective, and design a life filled with excitement, accomplishment, and well-being. As the designer of your life and with Unleash Your Imagination as your guide, you can plan an extraordinary life with greater purpose and meaning.
Kleidon reminds us that each of us is responsible for our life. Each of us is responsible for designing our life. In the words of Buckminster Fuller, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Unleash Your Imagination is all about change and the wonderful adventure of developing a vision for a new life.
Kleidon feels that life is a continuous design process – a methodical approach to discovery, experimentation, and thoughtful planning. He shares his decades of experience as a professor, entrepreneur, designer and artist to inspire his readers to open their minds, stretch their imaginations and use their deepest desires and highest aspirations to shape their personal pursuit of happiness and excellence.
The Professor
Working in an academic environment has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences for Kleidon. “There is nothing more thrilling than to share ideas, investigate new concepts and interact with the fresh young minds of university students.” Kleidon began his teaching career at the University of Illinois teaching technical drawing courses for art, design and architecture students. Within a few years, he was invited to the University of Akron to help build the graphic design program at the Myers School of Art. A long career at the University of Akron and his leadership abilities found him taking on positions as Graphic Design program coordinator, Commercial Art program coordinator and Acting Head of the School of Art. Kleidon taught thousands of students over his long career in higher education. His design students won top awards in regional and national competitions, year after year. Now an emeritus professor, Kleidon continues to teach as a guest lecturer in creative personal development.
Kleidon began his career working for two architectural firms in the Chicago region, but his love for art and design led him to continuing his study at Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master’s degrees. Kleidon was dedicated to academia and decided to continue his career in higher education at the University of Illinois and the University of Akron as a Professor of Art. In 1975, he co-founded Kleidon & Associates, a marketing communications firm serving clients in the United States and Europe. As a team of writers and designers, Kleidon & Associates worked with hundreds of companies and won regional and national awards for excellence in design, writing and marketing communications. In addition to serving the business community, Kleidon created Designer Grids, a three-point perspective system for helping designers and illustrators. These and other products that Kleidon designed were used by architects, designers and artists worldwide. In 2013 Kleidon was given the Distinguished Sales and Marketing Award by the Sales & Marketing Executives International and in 2019, Kleidon was awarded the Silver Award for Lifetime Achievement by the regional Advertising Federation.
In 2000, Kleidon co-founded Kleidon Publishing. His publishing company designed, edited and produced art books, magazines, novels and business books for writers and business executives. Many of these publications won awards for excellence in design.
The Artist
Dennis Kleidon paints on canvas and on archival paper, bringing abstractions to brilliant life on meditative backgrounds that serve to increase their power. From a distance, you can feel the pull of deep vortexes, tumble down a waterfall or pirouette into a graceful dance of shapes and colors. Up close, you can see feathers or ripples bounding on a beach and wonderful integrations of concentric lines and color details. At any distance, bold strokes demand your attention, moving in unison across huge curves, flowing in magical colors.
His Taliesin series paintings, with textured backgrounds, are inspired by the colors and textures of the magnificent boulders used to build the walls of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West. Dozens of visits to Wright’s Arizona campus have instilled a deep respect for the materials and design details of Wright. Kleidon has enjoyed many sessions photographing the exquisite textures and colors within the boulders at the Taliesin campus. The textures and strength of the rocks inspired these Zen-like paintings, splitting the peace, orderliness and mystery of stone to reveal the creative spark of an idea, of desire, of the life force within. Another series of paintings is similarly linked to nature, especially his Wind, Waves and Turbulence series, inspired by decades of sailing in the turbulence of crashing waves and the unpredictable forces of wind on the sails. His work captures the live motion of the artist’s hand, layering spontaneity with control, and in that way, inspiring the viewer to see a fresh reality.
In a recent series, paint explodes out of the graphic borders to express an aggressive dynamic over the thoughtfully relaxed background textures. Appropriately enough, this series is called Unleashed, a title shared by a book Kleidon has written called Unleash Your Imagination: Transform Your Life, which encourages his readers to unleash their imaginations as a way of finding their hidden passions. Another recent series titled Transformation, symbolizes the conversion that takes place as one transforms their life to a new and exciting future vision.
Always a teacher, Kleidon wants the freedom, power and optimism of his paintings to enrich the lives of all who see and own them. “Experience the excitement of bold colors in motion and their abstract implications. Become saturated with their visual potential.”
The Author
Dennis Kleidon is the author of a book titled, Unleash Your Imagination: Transform Your Life. "Each of us has a purpose in life, and it is up to us to find out what that purpose is." His book takes the reader through a journey of self-discovery, showing how innovation and optimism can be transformative. By unleashing your innate creativity and using proven design thinking, you can identify your mission in life, put problems in perspective, and design a life filled with excitement, accomplishment, and well-being. As the designer of your life and with Unleash Your Imagination as your guide, you can plan an extraordinary life with greater purpose and meaning.
Kleidon reminds us that each of us is responsible for our life. Each of us is responsible for designing our life. In the words of Buckminster Fuller, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Unleash Your Imagination is all about change and the wonderful adventure of developing a vision for a new life.
Kleidon feels that life is a continuous design process – a methodical approach to discovery, experimentation, and thoughtful planning. He shares his decades of experience as a professor, entrepreneur, designer and artist to inspire his readers to open their minds, stretch their imaginations and use their deepest desires and highest aspirations to shape their personal pursuit of happiness and excellence.
The Professor
Working in an academic environment has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences for Kleidon. “There is nothing more thrilling than to share ideas, investigate new concepts and interact with the fresh young minds of university students.” Kleidon began his teaching career at the University of Illinois teaching technical drawing courses for art, design and architecture students. Within a few years, he was invited to the University of Akron to help build the graphic design program at the Myers School of Art. A long career at the University of Akron and his leadership abilities found him taking on positions as Graphic Design program coordinator, Commercial Art program coordinator and Acting Head of the School of Art. Kleidon taught thousands of students over his long career in higher education. His design students won top awards in regional and national competitions, year after year. Now an emeritus professor, Kleidon continues to teach as a guest lecturer in creative personal development.
Paintings can be ordered from the artist or through any of the galleries listed on the Contact page.