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is not a painter in the traditional sense, considering his canvas of choice is a 200-gallon wa- ter-filled tank. e result can be defined as serendipitous swirls of suspended pigments, resembling anything from bil- lows of clouds, vapors of smoke to blots of ink. e NASA engineer-turned-artist applies his studies of physics and fluid dy- namics to create his trademark prints, but according to Keever, even rocket science can get a bit boring from time to time. "I had made art all my life and I really wanted to be an artist," Keever explained, recalling his decision to drop out of the Master's in Engi- neering program at Old Dominion University. Right before graduation, Keever came to the real- ization that art, specif- ically painting, was his true calling. Soon aer, he le his home state of Virginia and headed to New York's East Vil- lage—this during the 1970s, a time where the city's art scene was thriving thanks to the uprising of legends like Andy Warhol and the subway graffiti movement. With an astute understanding of the level of artistry out there, it didn't take long for Keever to realize that he would have to develop his own technique if he ever wanted to leave a lasting impression. His transition to aquatic abstract ex- pressionism has brought him the majority of his success, but this is not the style in which Keever started out. He ex- plained, "I reached a point in my painting where I just didn't feel like I was making a positive contribution. It was then that I started making landscape models and photographing them on a table." In the '90s, Keever was coincidently gied a 100-gallon tank from a friend which he began using as a base for his hyper-realistic diora- mas—miniature topiar- ies that he submerged and brought to life by way of light filters and hand-made plaster molds. Keever even- tually had the idea to stream droplets of paint into the water, mimick- ing the type of hazy at- mosphere and depth of field he had been search- ing for. His large-scale, landscape-style of work served as his main fo- cus up until 2013, when Keever decided that it was time to try some- thing new—simplifying the subject of his prints to just water and color. "I generally take any- where from 10 to 100 shots," Keever said, de- scribing his process. While the methodology may seem unorthodox and the end result dreamlike, the technique he implements is relatively simple. Plastic squeeze bottles take the place of paintbrushes and Keever carefully drops beads of paint that float, dive and swim within the water. He then catches them on camera as they unfurl, dis- persing and diffusing amongst each other. Keever only has a brief window to shoot before those voluminous whirls turn murky and sink to the bottom. VUE ON ART V U E N J . C O M 57

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