Karl Kroeppler dreams of writing his memoirs, but you won't find his story in any bookstore. Instead, the experiences and characters of Kroeppler's life are found in his paintings.
"I'm not the best at expressing my ideas in words," Kroeppler says. "But what I can do is illustrate my life through art."
Kroeppler walks around the Harry Wood Gallery at the Herberger Center for Fine Arts, taking one last look at his paintings before they are put away. The exhibition is part of his thesis for a master's in fine arts. His work hangs on the walls like a surreal family photo album.
Kroeppler says he gets his artistic inspiration from his family and friends, such as his wife, Cristina, and his 2-year-old daughter, Ava.
Even though Kroeppler's work contains pictures of people, he says his work is more than just a family portrait.
"If you want an exact copy of a person I suggest taking a picture," Kroeppler says. "The people in my work aren't drawn in a precise manner."
To get the right mood for his paintings, Kroeppler says he uses washes -- mixtures of water, paint, graphite and charcoal -- and pours them onto his panel. For some paintings, he says it takes a few washes to get the desired effect.
"I pour it [the wash] to the point where it looks interesting and has some depth to it," Kroeppler says. "I want to try and create a balance between everything in life: love and hate, for example."
Once the wash dries, he sketches the image over the wash. As he looks around the gallery, Kroeppler stops in front of a painting of his brother.
Washed in various red hues, the 9-by-6 foot painting titled "To Learn of Andromeda," depicts Kroeppler's brother and his family. Most of Kroeppler's paintings were created with cool colors such as black, blue and green.
"I couldn't understand why I was envisioning the color red," he says. "Then two months after I created the piece my brother and his wife got divorced."
While his brother's relationship came to an end, Kroeppler almost experienced the death of his art career before he received his bachelor's in studio art in 1990.
An artist visited Kroeppler's class to critique the student's work and gave him some advice: don't ever paint again.
"I packed up my stuff after graduation and didn't paint for a year and a half," Kroeppler says. "But I decided that art is all I had, and it makes me happy."
Most of Kroeppler's smaller pieces take up to three weeks to create, while the larger pieces such as "Andromeda" take up to three months. Even though painting takes up a large amount of his time, Kroeppler says you will never find him sleeping in his studio.
"It seems to be the stereotypical thing to do as an artist," he says. "But I consider myself to be a nine-to-five guy. I like to be able to live my life outside the studio."
When Kroeppler isn't creating his next masterpiece, he still has time for his other passion - skateboarding. Once a week, he finds the time to strap on his helmet and go for a ride.
"The people at ASU give me a hard time because I always show up with bumps and bruises," Kroeppler says. "I guess they have a right to be worried about me because if I break my painting arm, my career will be over."
Kroeppler takes one last look at the paintings before he leaves the gallery. His time at ASU is ending, but he says neither broken bones nor old age will keep him from his art.
"
I'll be painting for the rest of my life," Kroeppler says. "It's what I do."
Reach the reporter at gabriel.trujillo@asu.edu.
