360 STUDIOS

360 Studios... Step into the mesmerizing world of William Robert Stanek, the acclaimed "Michelangelo of Sunsets" whose photographic style is a true reflection of his artistic brilliance. Over the past 30 years, Stanek's camera has captured stunning images around the world, showcasing unique perspectives, natural colors, and a masterful use of natural light. And if that's not enough, his equally captivating oil paintings are guaranteed to leave you in awe.

For years, 360 Studios and our family of esteemed galleries, including the creative studios of Robert Stanek have been privileged to showcase the works of numerous professional artists and photographers who are masters in their respective fields. Now, we enter a new chapter in our history and are thrilled to focus exclusively on the photography and art of Mr. Stanek (and limitedly his wife, HC Stanek).

Our most celebrated contributors William Robert Stanek and his wife have been recognized as "living legends" and "national treasures" for their dedication to the arts and publishing. As a combat veteran and an advocate for individuals with disabilities, Mr. Stanek remains committed to supporting fellow veterans while promoting the value of books and libraries. Having written nonfiction as William Stanek for over three decades and fiction as Robert Stanek, his contributions have garnered numerous accolades and recognition from top-tier publications and around the publishing industry, including a feature article in his hometown newspaper, The Olympian, which referred to him as "A Face Behind the Future".

At 360 Studios, we are committed to providing our customers with the highest quality of art. That's why we hold ourselves to exceptionally high standards to ensure your utmost satisfaction. Our selection of artworks is 100% original and exclusive, so you can be assured that the piece you receive is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. So why settle for ordinary when you can experience the extraordinary with 360 Studios and the iconic William Robert Stanek?

The woman behind the scenes of this woman-owned company, William's wife, is erstwhile photographer and longtime publisher HC Stanek. HC Stanek has managed the day-to-day operations for the past three decades. Her work has been featured in a number of gallery shows and recently in a career retrospective with her husband. She prefers candid street photography and photography of people (though not traditional portrait work). Some of her most famous works, including Tip Toe I See You and Salt Water Taffy, shown in Hui Cha & William's career retrospective in Vienna.

Despite our rich history and esteemed reputation, the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a devastating blow to the arts industry, leading us to close all physical gallery locations and shift our operations online in Spring 2021. We urge you to support our studio by patronizing our online gallery, purchasing our works and telling others about our studio. Thank you.

Patronage has a rich history in the arts, and we are dedicated to keeping that tradition alive. You can support us and our artists by donating to our Arts Awareness Program, Artist Stipends & Funding Program, or Artists Expenses & Families Program.

~ Donate to our Arts Awareness Program.

~ Donate to our Artist Stipends & Funding Program.

~ Donate to our Artists Expenses & Families Program.

Be sure to visit all of our studios online. Thousands of iconic photographs… hundreds of canvas paintings…

360 Studios... Plus, don't miss the award-winning watercolor paintings of Robert Stanek @ Robert Stanek Studios

To contact us directly, send email. More about our founder at http://www.williamrstanek.com/.
Looking for more ways to enjoy art? Get ready to be awed by the latest addition to the art world - the highly anticipated photography book from the incomparable William Robert Stanek and his wife HC Stanek! Their impact on the arts community is legendary and they have now compiled a comprehensive collection of William's finest art photography from his 30+ year career. This wonderful coffee table book promises to be an inspiring masterpiece, showcasing over 100 rare and captivating works from the "Michelangelo of Sunsets" himself, accompanied by HC Stanek's expertly written text. Don't miss this chance to experience the pinnacle of photographic artistry!

Talking Art Prints with Hui Cha Stanek "Our artworks on canvas are stretched around wood frames using a traditional method," Hui Cha says. "The kind of art you see in art galleries and museums."

What process do you use for printing art on canvas? "Our art is printed on canvas using a fine art printing process called Giclee, pronounced zhee-KLAY," Hui Cha says, "Our prints use museum-quality pigment-based inks to capture every shade of the original work."

Is Giclee printing high quality? "Giclee prints are in fact the gold standard for high quality," Hui Cha says. "Not only that, the giclee printing process assures longevity of any work of art. The colors in Giclee printed artwork can last decades without any visible fading, ensuring art can be passed down through generations."

Is Giclee printing expensive? "Giclee is more expensive than traditional print," Hui Cha says, "Yet worth every penny to achieve a quality result that often cannot be distinguished from the original artwork."

Do Giclee prints have a surface texture? "Only if printed on a textured surface or using the artistic knife varnish style, which is one of several coating finish styles our art can be printed with. The other finishing styles are matte, semi-gloss, silver canvas, and high-gloss clear coat. At checkout, use the preview options to see which finishing style you prefer."

Do Giclee prints increase in value? "It’s very common for Giclee prints, especially, limited editions to go up in value. Prints also go up in value as the artist becomes more well-known."

Our founder, William Robert Stanek, and his wife have dedicated decades of their lives to the arts and publishing. Dubbed 'A Face Behind the Future' in 1996 by his hometown newspaper, The Olympian, Mr. Stanek’s work has been featured in and/or recommended by The Wall Street Journal, Publisher's Weekly, Parenting Magazine, and many other fine publications and periodicals.

“William and his wife are a dynamic duo, not only in publishing, but in the arts as well, together responsible for some of the most iconic works in landscape, architecture and travel photography over the past three decades.”

“Widely respected in the arts and literary communities, William and his wife are forces to be reckoned with. They’ve changed the way we look at the world.”

“Not only an award-winning writer, but an award-winning photographer and artist William is a preeminent force in the arts and literary communities.”

"William has a presence and a charisma that's inescapable. He's a gentle giant, a warrior poet, and a beautiful person. Someone you feel privileged just to know."

“A living legend recognized worldwide for his distinctive works that span more than three decades.”

”William, celebrated for his unique perspectives, natural colors and stunning use of natural light, is a national treasure.”

Did you know? As a successful, notable writer, photographer and artist, William Robert Stanek has met CEOs, presidents and royals, and yet it was a meeting with Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush in the early 1990s that he remembers most vividly. Both were trustees of the National Awards program at the Freedoms Foundation at the time, and he had recently received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his wartime service to the USA and the George Washington Honor Medal from the foundation.

“It was an honor,” William says, to have those great men shake his hand and mean it when they congratulated him for his achievements, but for William those moments marked a beginning, for in his view he had not yet achieved anything. And so he set out determined to make his mark on the world. Decades later, most would agree he has indeed succeeded.

Please bookmark our site and tell others about the beautiful artwork available here. Thank you!

Talking Photoshoots with William Robert Stanek

For aspiring creatives and those who collect your work, can you talk about your creative process? "Every artwork begins with a plan. Planning is a huge part of my success," William says. "My wife and I work out the locations we'll visit and then plan how the photoshoot at each will progress."

Photo shoot. For you, what is a photoshoot? "It's where we capture the essence of the location in a series of images," William says. "Each photoshoot is different, unique and our planning is fluid enough so we can make changes on site."

Your work is celebrated for your use of light and shadow. How do you achieve such spectacular results? "Experience is key," William says, "having an intimate understanding of the many ways the lenses and cameras I use capture the scene, understanding the way light changes throughout the day, the way light changes in different seasons, the way light changes in different parts of the world... More..."

Talent is what you really mean, but you're being modest? "Talent, raw and refined, is essential to success," William says. "A great artist seeks to capture the essence of a location in ways others haven't or at the least in ways that are different and unique to them."

Think differently? But you also have favorite locations that I see in your work? "Exactly, think differently," William says. "As for favorites, how could I not? There's too much beauty in the world, not to. I enjoy seeing how my favorites change through the seasons and over time, so I return and capture their essence as it exists in that new moment."

Despite our rich history and esteemed reputation, the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a devastating blow to the arts industry, leading us to close all physical gallery locations and shift our operations online in Spring 2021. We urge you to support our studio by patronizing our online gallery, purchasing our works and telling others about our studio. Thank you.

Not familiar with art? Although stretched canvas prints are the #1 most popular choice, we prefer the brilliant colors and unmatched beauty of HD Metal prints. Why? HD Metal prints include a back frame and are ready to hang without needing any extras. With HD Metal prints, you also don’t need to decide on which finishing coating to use. You get a high-gloss finish automatically at no extra cost.

Sizing art can be difficult. For a master bedroom where art will be hung on either side of the bed, 30 x 20 inches (77 x 51 cm) or a few inches either way is usually just about perfect. This also is a good size wherever a single artwork will be used to accent, such as over the bed in a guest bedroom, in a hallway, dining room or kitchen. With framed art, don’t forget the frame adds to the size, so you might want to start with a smaller size artwork. For example, the 1.5" gallery wrap frame adds a total of 3" all around to the size of the artwork. Thus, if you wanted a finished size of about 30 x 20 inches (77 x 51 cm), you’d want to start with art that was about 27 x 17 inches or a few inches either way.

For feature art in your home or office, another size that’s usually just about perfect is around 42 x 28 inches (108 x 72 cm) or a few inches either way. If you want artwork to dominate most any room you may find that 60 x 48 inches (154 x 123 cm) or a few inches either way fills the need. For large bathrooms, 24 x 16 inches (62 x 41 cm) is often ideal for centerpiece art, yet if you want to hang two artworks, you’ll usually want something smaller, say 16x12 inches for a master bathroom or 12x10 inches for a half bathroom. Again, don’t forget these are finished sizes, including any wrapping frame.

Thank you! Free shipping and easy returns in the USA and Canada. Elsewhere, you’ll find rolled prints are really easy and low-cost to ship just about anywhere. When you receive the rolled print, you can pick out a frame locally and then hang the artwork in your home.

Talking Art Collecting with William Robert Stanek "I don’t know how anyone lives without art on their walls to fill their days with beauty and joy," William said recently when asked about art collecting. "Start with one print of something you truly love and work your way from there."

"In 1986, at the age of 19, passing through Hawaii on my way to my first duty station, I stopped in a gallery owned by a little known artist who introduced himself to me as Robert Wyland. I was fascinated by his original oil on canvas paintings and particularly smitten with one featuring whales. This was a very large original oil on canvas, about 6’ in length as I remember it, with a list price was somewhere above $4000, and I managed to talk Robert down to $3500. Being homeless at 17 taught me a lot about saving and value, I’d saved every penny of my military pay that I could during boot camp and twelve months of training school and I knew value when I saw it. I wanted the painting more than the car I was saving up for."

"There was another smaller piece featuring dolphins that we negotiated as well. I left the gallery with Wyland’s card and price quotes written on the back, determined to scrape together the money. The day before I left the islands, I went back to the gallery, but hadn’t put together the money, so I browsed limited prints and settled on a few I loved. An associate of Wyland’s put three prints aside for me, and I rushed out to get the cash from the bank, about $650, but I never made it back. My military flight got moved up and I had to rush to the base to head off to my duty station in Japan."

"Today, just thinking about it, I’m crushed. Not because each of those prints is worth more than the average home or because the original oils are worth many millions, but because of all the days and years of joy I missed... Buy art because you love it, enjoy it each day, and you’ll have no regrets. Prints, especially limited prints, can appreciate in value just like original work on canvas, so prints can be an investment too, but the joy of ownership is the best part, even if your art collection is only one piece."

Talking Landscape Photography and Waterfalls with Hui Cha Stanek William’s landscapes, especially his waterfalls, are truly stunning. Few others even come close to his level. What’s your work together like? "We’ve worked together so many years," Hui Cha says. "We have a rhythm. It works, but we don’t just show up and start taking pictures. There’s a lot that happens behind the scenes."

"You’re talking about planning before you go out to a location? How does that work?" "We pick locations and study the area," Hui Cha says. "Everything is timed so that our arrival is optimal. The right time of day, the right time of year, the right positioning, the right equipment. All of this means that once we go, William can just do his thing."

"You’re being modest. You’re always there with William and behind the scenes in the planning. Aren’t you?" "Yes, I am with him," Hui Cha says smiling, "By the time we’re on location though, I tend to stay out of his way and let him do what he needs to do. I’m there to assist when he needs me."

Sometimes things happen on location. You can’t control the weather. Things like that. "True," Hui Cha says, "we do our best to optimize travel based on forecasts, but you can’t predict the future. You can’t control traffic, closures and such either."

William’s the guy others try to emulate in their work, especially in landscape photography, even if they don’t realize it. How do you feel about that? "William and I have been doing this for thirty years. Our work is everywhere. It’d be disappointing if we weren’t seen as setting the standard others are trying to achieve."

William’s use of natural light always amazes. More amazing, year after year, he does things differently than others, even himself. You’re with him behind the scenes. How does he capture, say a waterfall, in a way no one else has? "By thinking differently," Hui Cha says, "by not just showing up, by studying and watching.”

To help everyone understand this, can you give an example? “Sure," Hui Cha says. "In Adelboden, William studied the falls from a distance for days before going out to the site, not to mention all the driving we did around the area to get to know the lighting."

And the results are breathtaking... "I think they are," Hui Cha says smiling. "You never know what the day will truly bring until you’re there, but sometimes it all comes together just right."