The art of Aviva
Employee’s paintings featured in new Chicago regional office

As the finishing touches were completed in Aviva’s new North American regional headquarters in Chicago, Rob Reeves, network engineer at Aviva USA’s Des Moines location, was placing his own finishing brush strokes on the three paintings that will permanently reside there.

Rob’s oil paintings, with their strong contrasts and bright colors, caught the eye of Des Moines assistant facilities manager Heidi Peterson and, in turn, Tom Godlasky, CEO, North American region.

“When I first saw Rob’s paintings, I was very impressed,” Tom said. “I thought it would be a unique opportunity to feature a very talented artist, and an Aviva employee, in our Chicago office.”

Heidi approached Rob about the project in October of 2007, and Rob immediately accepted.

“I was thrilled,” Rob said. “Naturally, I said ‘yes, I’d love to!’”

Rob’s challenge was to capture iconic images of downtown Chicago, and his project started out with the trip to the “Windy City” where he took nearly 400 photographs. This collection would eventually dwindle down to three snapshots of the city, which were used as templates for his paintings.

“I’m always looking for lighting, shape and strong linear elements,” Rob said. “I saw all of these amazing shadows on the buildings that I wanted to photograph.”

The final three images showed the excitement of Navy Pier, unique architectural elements of the Chicago Theater and the city’s distinctive waterway system with the Aviva Chicago office in the background. Rob personally delivered the three five-foot-tall paintings to the Aviva Chicago office February 12.

“It was exciting, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity,” Rob said.

Rob has an art degree from the University of Northern Iowa, has been drawing his entire life and painting for the past 18 years. His art is currently on display at ArtDive in downtown Des Moines, which also sells his handiwork.

“I’m not a subtle character and it shows in my work,” Rob said. “I like the feel of the streets in small towns especially and look for a lot of natural and man-made light.”

Rob lives in the Des Moines area with his wife, Kerry, and children Chance, eight, and Zane, four. He says his family provides a lot of inspiration for his work.

“When I started thinking about kids and a family, I started thinking about what my legacy would be to them. I wanted to be the dad that pursued his dream so that they could see it was possible and worthwhile,” Rob said.

As for his future artistic ambitions, Rob has set some other high-rise goals: “I’d love to travel to every major city in the world and paint what I see there,” he said.

Showcased in the February 2008 edition of DSM Magazine

Reeves' cityscapes light up the night

By MICHAEL MORAIN
STATE OF THE ARTS

 

June 21, 2007