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Russell Slocum is a landscape artist and sporadic writer who spends most of his time painting in Eastern Pennsylvania, Maine and the Chesapeake Bay. He works primarily in oils and pastels, occasionally in acrylics. Most of his oil paintings are done en plein air, at least in part. Some are finished on the spot, others in the studio. The rest of his landscapes are painted from his own photos or sketches. He is currently co-director of Art Plus Gallery in West Reading, PA.
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Here's how he got here:
In making the transition to a full-time artist in 2014, Russ retired from a 40+ year career in advertising as an agency owner, creative director and copywriter. Throughout his adult life, he also avidly pursued interests in painting and boating.
He graduated from Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA, with a major in English and minor in Art. His first job out of school was with Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, where he wrote and designed book jackets and catalogs. After a year he returned to Pennsylvania, married his college sweetheart Ann Hippensteel, and spent most of the next decade as a copywriter and account manager with ad agencies. During this time he bought a big sailboat and took a couple breaks from advertising to work as a freelance writer. He published articles in The New York Times Magazine, Playboy, Atlantic and other magazines, and wrote two dozen children's story-coloring books. After a misguided shot at novel writing, he sold his boat and returned to advertising with renewed enthusiasm. He also taught copywriting through the Albright College continuing education program.
In making the transition to a full-time artist in 2014, Russ retired from a 40+ year career in advertising as an agency owner, creative director and copywriter. Throughout his adult life, he also avidly pursued interests in painting and boating.
He graduated from Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA, with a major in English and minor in Art. His first job out of school was with Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, where he wrote and designed book jackets and catalogs. After a year he returned to Pennsylvania, married his college sweetheart Ann Hippensteel, and spent most of the next decade as a copywriter and account manager with ad agencies. During this time he bought a big sailboat and took a couple breaks from advertising to work as a freelance writer. He published articles in The New York Times Magazine, Playboy, Atlantic and other magazines, and wrote two dozen children's story-coloring books. After a misguided shot at novel writing, he sold his boat and returned to advertising with renewed enthusiasm. He also taught copywriting through the Albright College continuing education program.
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In 1983, he started his own shop, Slocum Advertising. He bought a smaller sailboat. In 1986 he co-founded Slocum Blatt Advertising, and the full service agency enjoyed a prosperous 16-year run. In 2002, Russ started The Slocum Group. In 2014, he dialed back the advertising and marketing work to concentrate on landscape painting. He now does some of both as co-director of Art Plus Gallery, a non-profit artist co-op located in the heart of the Berks County social and cultural mecca of Penn Avenue, West Reading.
Russ and his wife Ann live in Wyomissing, PA. |
Sand bar hopping in Barnegat Bay,
c. 1996. Photo by Ken Slocum
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