California artist Ken Auster started his artistic career with poster and t-shirt graphics in the milieu of 1960s surfing culture. He went on from there to plain air painting, and established his signature subject choices of streetcars, contemporary surfing scenes, California landscapes and restaurant interiors.

All were approached with bold brush work, vibrant color and strongly geometric compositions. I particularly love his interior scenes of the St Regis Bar in NY that incorporate the famous restaurant murals of Maxfield Parrish (above, bottom two).

Auster died on January 29 a the age of 66.

For more, see my previous posts on Ken Auster, and his book, Ken Auster: Intellect and Passion.