Celeste Reiter

Reiter’s mom taught tole painting classes (the folk art of decorative painting on tin and wooden utensils, objects, and furniture) and sold her paintings at the county fair and local flea markets. This is a very structured type of painting, tracing patterns, and creating realistic-looking things and landscapes. She admits that the highly structured style of painting objects didn’t appeal to her own inner creativity. Looking back, Reiter sees that she was given every chance to make whatever kind of art she wanted, but always gravitated toward abstract works of art typically involving black paint or black crayon. Even as a child, she saw the power of a black background behind vivid colors.

For her birthday one year, her parents bought her a spin art machine, and ironically, Retier says that she now uses a similar apparatus to spin her artwork. However, her introduction to “the arts” wouldn’t happen until she was an adult. This is because the area where she grew up was- and still is- blue-collar. Instead of learning about Picasso and Dalí, the youngsters of Northeast Ohio were surrounded by beautiful landscapes and vibrant colors but were mostly taught hard work, self-reliance, and family.

After being drawn into Cincinnati by the bright lights of a big city, Reiter pushed her way into the business world and rented the apartment of her dreams. She then came to visual art initially through house paint. As a young adult living on her own, Reiter would paint and repaint the walls of her apartment and noticed that the color of her walls had a profound impact on her mood and how she felt. This was a huge pivot point in the early life of this great contemporary artist.

Being self-taught, Reiter dove headfirst into a myriad of art books to learn more about paint, mediums, and different styles of artwork. A lot of her older artwork is a combination of fluid and knife paintings or a combination of fluid, knife, and brushwork. She is mesmerized by how paint moves and responds to manipulation.

Reiter has recently gained recognition as the first female artist in Park West Gallery’s history to sell out her first and second shows. Her work has been sold at fine art shows across the country including Artexpo New York, American Craft Baltimore, and Ohio’s Winter Fair. Reiter’s artwork isn’t only hanging in the homes and offices of collectors around the world, she has designed artwork for the home decor industry at both the Las Vegas and High Point Furniture Market, too. In 2021 she was named top selling artist by Touch of Modern.

Everything Reiter has seen, felt, and experienced in her lifetime is poured into her artwork today. She considers her art the most authentic expression of who she is now and was during her childhood. Celeste and her husband, Park West Gallery artist Nicholas Yust, still reside in Cincinnati.