Featured Artist: Steve Opet
Steve Opet graduated from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 1975, receiving an Associate’s Degree in Visual Communication. In 1990 he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Point Park College, Pittsburgh. He was a Weirton Steel Corp. employee for 24 years, first as a union worker, then a communications specialist, creating monthly safety posters and corporate presentations. He later worked as a foreman, Sinter Plant (Primary), and finally a Planner in Utilities/BOP (Primary).
Opet enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1982, and served with the 99th Army Reserve Command during a 3-year active tour as an illustrator. He has served in Kosovo, Operation Joint Guardian, twice in Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom and the “Surge”. During OIF, he served with the 10th Mountain Division. In his free time, Opet created over 70 color and black & white cartoons for the 10th’s publication, “The Mountain View”, which are now part of the permanent collection of the 10th Mountain Division Museum, Fort Drum, NY. Some of his cartoons appear in; “Armed with Abundance”, by Meredith H. Lair, “The Comic Art of War”, by Christina M. Knopf, “Drawing Fire – The Editorial Cartoons of Bill Mauldin”, by the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. Several of his 10th Mountain cartoons were displayed at the Pritzger Military Museum and Library, Chicago, during the Bill Mauldin retrospective, May 2021 to April 2022.
“My drawings are mixed medium rendered in black and white using Bic pen, graphite and colored pencils, charcoal, and water color. I like contrast, line, form (especially the abstract, like patterns found in cloth folds), and add a touch of color to highlight an aspect of the piece. I have recently started to add more than a “touch” of color, but still primarily work in black and white.” said Opet. “I use old photographs as reference, and search for photographs of children, pets and men and women at work and leisure – conventional subjects drawn in an unconventional way.”
“I enjoy the fine line work I use in shading, but have started to use more graphite pencil. I sometimes get abstract when rendering folds and various textures. I slightly “distort” the faces of my subjects. My people are all slightly quirky – exaggerated facial features, gangly legs and knobby knees, and grown-up heads on children’s’bodies – a juxtaposition of normal and eerie. I create surreal, slightly caricaturized faces and bodies.” Steve continued. “Family albums are a primary source, as well as magazines and books. The photographs reflect life in America, something most people can identify with.”
Steve has won more than 50 awards, including 22 Merit Awards, five Best of Show, 10 First Place, and 6 Special Awards. In the military, he has won 12 First Place awards for Illustrative Art in the Keith L. Ware Annual Competition for Excellence in Journalism, and in 2009 received a Thomas Jefferson Award at the Department of Defense level. His piece, “Barefoot Swingers”, won an Award of Excellence (Purchase Award), at the West Virginia Governor’s Annual Exhibition, 2003. In 2012, “Sunday Ride” received an Award of Merit at Tamarack “Best of West Virginia Exhibit”, and was featured in their Best of West Virginia calendar.
He resided in Fayetteville, NC, for 13 years, where he retired as a Master Sergeant from the United States Army Reserve Command (USARC), Fort Bragg, NC with 32 years of service. Steve and his spouse, Ilene, moved back to Weirton in 2024. He is a past president of the Steubenville Art Association, was an exhibiting artist and board president of Cape Fear Art Studios, Fayetteville, NC, and was a member of the Arts Council of Cumberland County, and the Moore County Arts Council, NC. He recently joined the Top of WV Arts Council in Weirton. “Being a part of the Top of WV Arts Council is a fantastic venue for being with local fellow artists, and bringing the arts to our community” said Opet. “The arts council is important to our community for bringing art awareness to those who may not have any other access or exposure to art.”
To view more of Steve’s work, visit www.steveopet.com.
