Born in 1945 in San Francisco, Ca. Lee studied under artist Bonnie Wade, and
at Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California. He lives in Mission Viejo, California
with his wife Lorrie and has four children.
*In my painting I am seeking to express the fact of Creation. That there is
a design to the world and cosmos around us. There are lessons in everything created,
which tell us about who this designer is, what He is like and that we can personally
know and communicate with Him. To take it a step further, to recognize historically
that He came and lived among us 2000 years ago, showing His great love for each
of us, and providing the only way to come back into relationship with Him.*
William Havlicek, art editor, practicing artist and former museum curator on
Munsell's work:
*Munsell is a Luminist. He explores a range of naturalistic subject matter with
a sensitive eye for light and, more specifically, for degrees of luminosity.
Like the 19th century American landscape painters, Inness and Church, he uses
nuances of light to create transcendent evocations. At a time when excess is
a great temptation for an artist, it is refreshing to find an individual like
Munsell who embraces time-honored tradition and attempts the difficult. He may
approach a silent mountain terrain where clouds and light are as much the subjects
of the work as are the peaks and strong pines. His subject matter is more than
the obvious, which is why his painting strikes deep and lingers long.
Like Winslow Homer, who in his late work explored the profundity of water and
light, Munsell too presents us with a shimmering world of cold waves, rock and
sunlight. Dark, billowing swells are in Munsell's hand surprisingly alive. It
is certain that he knows the subject intimately. Where other painters would rest
content with the eerie glow of backlit waves, he takes on the more difficult illusions
of mass, weight, undertow and tidal current.
Taking the effects of light on his primary subject may be his way of expressing
a belief in a supernatural origin for the natural universe. One gets the feeling
that Munsell wants to communicate more about his subject than paint alone can
suggest.
Munsell's works have a staying power which gains the more the works are experienced.
Like the subject which he undertakes, he seeks to convey the timeless and lasting
effects of
creation.*