Immortalizing Newport

For the past 20 years, Shawn Michael Droke has held numerous occupations, but his avocation has always been the same. He’s waited tables, landscaped gardens and sold women’s shoes all in the hope of saving enough to open his own art gallery.

Last week, the 41-year-old realized his dream.

“I did anything to make money so I could keep doing my art,” Droke said. “It’s taken me a long time, but now I am finally at the point where I can just do my art.”

With dozens of acrylic paintings on display, the modern realist’s ambitions extend beyond the walls of his Cannery Village studio. Droke hopes to invigorate Newport Beach’s art scene while helping young artists establish themselves by organizing weekly or monthly art fairs.

“It’s a tough road getting your art out there, and I wouldn’t recommend it or wish it upon anyone,” he said. “I want to help make it easier for young artists.”

Droke, a longtime Newport Beach artist, said Cannery Village was a sprawling arts community in the 1990s, but the street artists and galleries he remembers have since disappeared.

“There used to be artists up and down this street, but it’s really kind of slowed down in the last decade,” he said. “I think there are just as many good artists here as in Laguna Beach but we just don’t really have the outlet right now.”

Jana Barbier, the city’s cultural arts coordinator, said area artists have likely come and gone as often happens in the art world, adding that the Newport Beach Arts Commission is always ready to support the endeavors of local artists.

“It would be a wonderful area to revitalize because it’s so scenic and picturesque,” she said. “It deserves to be immortalized.”

With titles like “Sunrise Surfer” and “The Pier,” many of Droke’s serene beach scenes aim to do just that with their brilliant blue and green hues, skyscraping palm trees and bobbing sailboats.

“I just find endless inspiration at the beach,” he said. “Even people who live in middle America want to decorate a room with a beach theme. I think people find serenity with the beach.”

Vending original works, fine art giclées, metal signs and greeting cards, Droke strives to keep prices low, most at about $20. “I don’t want rich people to be the only ones who can buy my art,” he said. “I like to make it affordable through prints and reproductions so everyone can enjoy art.”

He said a key component to launching the gallery was working with both halves of his brain — the creative right and the sensible, analytical left side.

“There’s a lot of talented artists out there, but they don’t have the business side, too,” he said. “It’s just like show business; you can’t have the show without the business.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The grand opening of Shawn Michael Droke Paintings

WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 25

WHERE: 509 31st St., Ste. 202, Newport Beach

COST: Free

INFO: For more information, go to www.drokepaintings.com or call (949) 293-2066.