Born in Hampton, Virginia, Calvin Coleman II spent his adolescent years in Swarthmore, a Pennsylvania suburb.  After graduating from Lincoln University where he earned his B.S. degree in Early Childhood Education, Coleman taught at the elementary level for fourteen years. While teaching, Calvin was also preparing himself to become comfortable enough to pursue art full time.  In 2004, Coleman made the transition that changed his life forever.  Following this decision, his paintings have shown in a number of galleries throughout the United States and in Europe as well.

As a self-taught artist, that incorporates abstract expressionism and Fauvism, Coleman builds upon the canvas with an assemblage of heavy body acrylic paint, a variety of textiles and other mediums to embellish his uninhibited style of painting.  In recognizing a great interest in brilliant colors and texture, he has admired the techniques of Richard Mayhew, who has been an influence in Coleman’s development, and more recently, the style in which Chaim Soutine (French Abstract Expressionist), created his works.  Mayhew’s fluidity with colors and Soutine’s dense textural characteristics can account for the structure of Coleman’s paintings, which are built with such strength in a melody of blended hues, the usage of manipulated canvas strips and textiles. The inspirations behind the contemporary style that Coleman conveys to his audience, has much to do with his spirituality, love for nature’s beauty, lyrics of songs from a vast genre of music, and his journey through life.  In Art Matters, January 2007, art critic Wuanda Walls stated, Calvin’s work is “endowed with an aura of originality and poetic whimsy.”

Works by Calvin Coleman are included in numerous public, private collections and publications as well.  Among these are the permanent collection of the City of Atlanta Housing and Urban Development; the Drexel University; The GE Healthcare Corporate Office; the Jericho City of Praise; the Jericho Christian Academy; the Rock View Elementary School; the Patuxent Elementary School; the RIMS Center for Enrichment and Development; Tri Tech Enterprises Systems Inc.; the Global Design; the Arel Architechts Inc.; the M.H. West and Co., Inc.; the Daniel Texidor Parker Collection, the Patric McCoy Collection, the Arthur Jones Collection, the Curtis Jones Collection, the Pamela Blackman Collection and the James Oliver M.D. Collection.

Commissions include:

GlobalHue and Verizon Wireless, “One Accord”, 2008;  Mr. Chenoa Osayande, “Muhammed Ali, Bob Marley and Malcolm X”, 2005; and Ms. Alvah Beander, “Marvin and Blair.” 2006

Publications include;

Looking Toward the Sky, by Helen F. Lee, Publisher (Johns Hopkins University) 1995, artwork appears on cover; Ma-Sect To Me, by Sylvia Solomon, Publisher (Simply Friends) 1996, artwork appears on cover; The Advocate & Greenwich Time, by Special Correspondent L.P. Streitfeld, January 2005, p.D3 and D4 Unveiled Series I, by Will Downing and Emerging Artists, Publisher (Bro Nel Enterprises Inc. and WD Productions) 2005, artwork appears on cover and p.56 through p.66; The Network Journal Black Professionals and Small Business Magazine, January 2005, artwork appears on cover; Gallery Guide, Mid –Atlantic, Publisher (LTB) 2006, artwork appears on p.9; and “Black Entertainment Television T.V. show, College Hill, June 2007-August 2007.

Calvin A. Coleman II presently resides in Upper Marlboro, Maryland where he continues his quest to become the absolute best artist he can be while stretching his creativity to evoke emotions from those that view his work.