Basketball Hoop, Soft pastel and graphite
on Rives BFK, 22" x 30", 2010
What are you working on in
your studio right now?
1. I'm finishing up a painting that I started before the New Year.
2. I'm starting a 38" x 46" oil painting of the George Washington
Bridge that I will be auctioning off at my wife's private elementary school.
3. I'm continuing to work on a linocut series of Buffalo, NY architecture.
By 2013 I hope to have completed the series of 10 architectural structures that
best represent Buffalo for better or worse.
4. I'm continuing to work on my 5 1/2" x 8" pencil drawings
documenting my commute to and from Washington Heights in Manhattan. The
architecture in that neighborhood I find especially interesting.
Can you describe your working routine?
I draw and paint primarily as a means of meditation and way of
contemplating my immediate surroundings. I typically feel the need to draw
everyday, I paint when I can (about once a week), and I work on other projects
like printmaking in intense stretches of two week periods or so.
Painting the George Washington Bridge
Can you describe your studio
space and how, if at all, that affects your work?
My studio is outdoors… I'm really a "en plain air" painter. That
means that I bring my work and materials with me wherever I go, whenever I want
to draw/paint. I can be on the bus commuting to work, hiking through a State
Park, or sitting in the front yard of my apartment (I live in Nyack… a
beautiful village 30 minutes north of Manhattan on the Hudson River). All those
places are equally my studio. However I do have a room in my apartment where I
keep all my art materials and finished pieces. But I rarely do any creating in
there and it gets pretty messy.
Tell me about your process,
where things begin, how they evolve etc.
Things always start with me having the desire to go for a walk and clear my
head. Then after walking a bit I'll find a cozy spot somewhere to set up and
draw or paint. Sometimes I choose my location according to a subject that I
find interesting like a mailbox, a house, or a car. Sometimes I choose my
location because its comfortable… I'll typically set up on a side street, in
the shade, or in an area close to home. From there I begin to draw what I see.
The goal when I am creating art is to immerse myself in the here and now. But
in order to be in the moment and be spontaneous I have to be inspired and that
means that I have to get creative in my interpretation of what I'm drawing. If
I draw solely with my eyes I'll be bored, if I draw solely with my emotions
I'll be thrust back into myself, but if I use my emotions and imagination to
creatively interpret what I see then I working within a healthy and happy
balance between the two. From that point on I'm like a Jazz musician
improvising within the parameters of my subject matter. Sometimes I push those
boundaries to an almost unrecognizable interpretation, but most often I work to
enhance the visual qualities inherent in my subject. Almost always I finish the
drawing/painting in a single session and the piece ends up taking its final
shape without over thinking it.
UPS Truck, Paper mache over styrofoam, 22' x 15' x 8', 2010
What are you having the most
trouble resolving?
I suppose there is a few a things. I've always been turned on by
"naive" looking art… whether it was done by Dubuffet (an art world
insider) or Sam Doyle (an art world outsider) it doesn't really matter. I love
simplified forms, crooked lines, and disproportionate forms and shapes. But I
don't like kitschy cute stuff, or art that too closely resembles children's
art. So I sometimes struggle with creating work that looks simple but not too
childlike.
I also love to work large. I created a 22' x 15' x 8' paper mache UPS truck
while I was in my Masters program at CUNY Lehman. But other than that
experiment I'm limited on how large my work can be because I paint/draw outside
on location. Ten years ago in Undergrad at SUNY Fredonia I created many
paintings that were 7' x 5'. I like that size but it doesn't easily accommodate
walking around outside and setting up to paint on the sidewalk.
Also, I don't feel as though I'm completely comfortable with any one medium
and/or material. I used to be an oil painter. But now I do a little of everything…
oil paint, acrylic paint, pencil, ink brush, oil and soft pastel, mixed medium
with watercolor, print making… etc. Each medium I love has its downside.
Do you experiment with
different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?
Like I said above… I love many mediums and materials. But don't
misunderstand me, I'm not innovative with materials like Eva Hesse was. About 4
years ago or so I became very interested in learning and understanding
traditional drawing and painting mediums. I find it curious that to work with
something as basic as charcoal on paper can be so complicated. Start with
charcoal… there is willow, vine, char-kole sticks, charcoal dust, compressed
charcoal, charcoal pencils… and more. Each has its own personality and
techniques that work especially well with it. But then there is paper… smooth,
toothed, rough, thin, thick, watercolor, dry media, pastel, printmaking,
cotton-based, wood pulp, mulberry, machine made, hand made, archival, non-archival…
and believe me this list can go on forever! (By the way New York Central in
Manhattan has an incredible selection of papers).
Graphite on archival paper, 5 1/2" x 8", 2012
What does the future hold for
your work?
Ten years ago when I was twenty I created art in a blaze. I was never short
for ideas and every piece I created I pushed my creativity to its max. I was
forever anxious to start my next project and hoped to awe my audience (faculty
and classmates) every time. I was also very unhappy during this period in my
life and emotionally unstable. Ten years on, at the age of thirty, I create art
in a slow burn. I've found an approach to art making that satisfies me. I no
longer care about impressing my audience… in fact I find myself content with
creating work that challenges my audience… in other words, I enjoy creating
work that the audience might not find attractive. I also don't have anxiety
anymore about creating work… I have nothing to prove to myself artistically.
I'm totally content at the moment just drawing and painting the world around
around me.
In the future, say ten years on, I see myself having created a huge body of
consistent work. I can see myself fluctuating back and forth between abstract
interpretation of my subjects and realistic interpretation. Also, I hope to do
a few more installation art projects, paper mache and wooden sculptures, and
have a few comprehensive solo shows. I foresee my career as an artist gaining
momentum and hope to have a long lasting relationship with a gallery that I
trust.
Driveway, Soft pastel, watercolor, gauche, graphite
on Aquabee Super Deleuxe paper, 11" x 14", 2010
Is there anything else you
would like to add?
I'd like to share with your readers a few of my core beliefs about art…
Never
concern yourself with being original; originality just happens.
Just because
a work of art is hanging in a museum doesn’t mean that you have to like it.
The
greatest art never tries to be great.
All
artists have only one option: to become the artist that they are.
Great
artists know how to use their weaknesses for their strengths.
Authenticity
is the greatest quality a work of art can possess.
The
greater the material limitations an artist has, the greater the opportunity the
artist has for transcending them.
Do not
take from nature, make from nature.
Honor
diversity in art. The more styles and aesthetics there are, the richer their
distinctions become.To be
involved in a community of artists is the only way for career success.
Never
pay anyone to exhibit your work.
If you
aren’t being denied fifteen times a year from submitting your work for shows
you aren’t applying enough