Stephen Charles Shortridge is a romantic impressionist who is experiencing much success with his vibrant brush strokes and his hand-enhanced giclees. Shortridge, the artist, may be more familiar to you as an actor. Theatrically he has starred as a series regular in "Welcome Back Kotter" as the southern sweathog 'Beau' and co-starred with Debbie Reynolds on the ABC show, "Aloha Paradise". He spent the year of 1987 playing the role of David Reed as part of the original cast on the CBS daytime soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful". It was after this role that Stephen set his priorities toward business and finally to pursue his love of art.
Stephen enjoyed acting but found painting much more creatively satisfying and explains, "...the feeling of being totally free to create as an artist is exciting to me. In acting a large part of the creative process had taken place by the time I was involved. The writer, director, and producer had already made many decisions about the character I would play. In contrast, painting gives me complete control. I may race along in a painting and have a disaster on my hands or something I'm proud of...but, I make the choices and accept the consequences, good or bad. That's freedom...it's precious and the most fulfilling part of being an artist to me."
Amongst Stephen's collectors are celebrities Patty Duke, Donna Summer, and Rick Dees. Also while living in the LA area, Stephen exhibited with fellow actors/artists including accomplished artist Peter Falk.
