Lee Funderburg grew up in Yellow Springs Ohio, enjoying the great outdoors. After studying painting and printmaking at Ohio University and graduating in 1978, Lee moved to New York City to work for Tyler Graphics. During a 20 year career at Tyler, executing lithographs and woodcuts for other artists, Lee returned to Yellow Springs in 1997 to concentrate on his own work, and rediscover the beauty of open spaces in the Midwest.
The subject matter of Lee’s paintings portray the beauty of the Midwest, the majesty of the wild and natural. His landscapes are of southwestern Ohio, both plants and wildlife. In his still life paintings of wild flowers and weeds, all are native to the area. Lee will often begin a painting by choosing an interesting antique frame, giving him the creative impetus to start a new painting specifically for the frame. As a painter, Lee understands he is manipulating liquid color to convey information to the eye, both through illusion and directly through the senses. His penchant for detail has a startling effect by creating a surface that is interesting to the eye, independent of illusion. Lee Funderburg’s paintings are an intimate conversation of person, place, memory, and the painting itself, bringing awareness to our draw toward paintings.