Allen Sessler

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Allen Sessler’s interest in structure and line was evident at an early age. Crayon sketches like that of the family farmhouse drawn in aerial perspective soon advanced to drawings of self-designed houses and interiors.

Raised on the Iowa soil settled by his family, Sessler continued working with the land and livestock following high school. The call to further pursue his artistic abilities still persisted, and approaching age 40, Allen began a new journey by enrolling in Wartburg College as a Studio Art and Graphic Design major. Besides expanding his style to be more expressionistic, the college experience honed skills in areas of sculpture and photography. A painting course in Italy brought added insight through the study of historic masterworks and experiencing a culture of art.

Sessler’s work soon began receiving recognition. A life drawing was chosen for the Midwest College Traveling Exhibit, an etching as gift to Eisenach, Germany and the Wartburg Castle, a campus sculpture, a popular illustration as the “Christmas with Wartburg” artist. Sessler’s recent direction toward more abstract work was reinforced by a 1st Place painting award at the 2004 Iowa State Fair. Titled “Listening,“ the piece was done in response to jazz music, but he realized it was also about truly “listening” to his own inner voice.

The right balance of light and dark, calm and excitement, color and bland, is important to satisfaction in visual aesthetic as in music, even in life. Repetitious line and pattern surrounds us. The formation of tree branches, the petals of a flower, the rows of a farm field, an aerial plat map, all serve to inspire. The breaks in those patterns hold our interest. Sessler’s hope is that his work heightens the awareness of things too often taken for granted and remains fresh and inspiring.