A former Airedale of the United States Navy, artist Eric Harley Schweitzer has always appreciated the amount of hard work needed to achieve a goal.

With a mother who was a painter and a sister who is also a film producer, Schweitzer has grown up constantly surrounded by art.

“My upbringing and the value that my family has placed on fine arts, having a lot of art available to me as a young guy — it really brought a lot of creative understanding,” Schweitzer said.

Up until 2004, art was only a hobby to Schweitzer. “Before then, there wasn’t much of my art lying around except things in the basement from when I was little,” he said.

With little formal art training, Schweitzer actually taught himself how to paint and began creating small oil pieces that eventually evolved into acrylics, mixed media and some sculpting.

“Right now, I’m mainly a painter with a little bit of stone sculpting,” Schweitzer said. Now, with a studio in Takoma Park, Schweitzer is creating pieces more than four times the size of when he started.

A former aviation electronics technician for the Navy, Schweitzer said his military background hasn’t affected his art at all. A year ago, when he lost his job as a program director for a trade association, it permitted him to work full time on his art while looking for work.

“In 2010, I was allowed to produce a lot of work,” he said. “Art is very therapeutic. There’s a lot of fantasy involved.”

Despite being raised in idyllic New England, Schweitzer feels that his art is the antithesis of the quiet woodlands where he grew up. His work is inspired by abstract artists such as de Kooning, Miró and especially abstract expressionists.

“Back in the ‘80s, there was a lot of heavy use of street art and graffiti, especially in New York and this, I believe, has had the biggest environmental impact on my very gestural style of working in all media,” he said.

Schweitzer grew up an hour north of New York City and said his proximity to the city allowed easy access to the many galleries and museums in city and the urban condition during this time.

When he arrived in Washington, D.C. (“the best place to live on the Eastern seaboard,” he said), Schweitzer tried living in all corners of the city, including Foggy Bottom, College Park, Pentagon City and Takoma Park. Now, living in Chevy Chase on the edge of Bethesda with his wife and a child on the way in five weeks, Schweitzer enjoys how D.C. shares a visual collage of new buildings and old. He is particularly inspired by the effort that went into beautifying many of the statues and other sculptures that are so often overlooked.

“I really have to tip my hat to D.C.,” he said. “The kind of architecture we have here truly inspires me.”

Schweitzer feels that “there are some D.C. area artists who are taking the necessary risks to try different things. Though there is a strong arts community, there is still a great need to improve greater support for so many struggling artists. Artists are important because they create the culture of the town, which creates improved local economics and hence more art and quality of life.”

Schweitzer said, “Here [in the studio] you can sort of disappear for a bit, which is nice. What I’m doing right now is not really romantic. it’s working seriously in my studio.”

When he’s not busy creating art, Schweitzer enjoys walking and watching life around Dupont Circle. He’s constantly studying art currently being shown in local galleries and major museums, as well as conversing with local artists for a source of continual education

Now through Feb. 5, Schweitzer is showcasing his art at the Waverly Street Gallery on East-West Highway in Bethesda.

“I’m looking for as many opportunities as I can find to keep showing my work and being engaged in the art scene,” Schweitzer said.

Schweitzer hopes to continue to create art and has been encouraged by several well-established artists in the area.

For more information on Schweitzer and his work, visit his website www.schweitzersart.com.