JAMES AUSTIN MURRAY

 

The Dirty Parts of Heaven,

Oil on canvas, 24″ x 24″ x 4″, 2009-2012

 

 

 

What are you working on in your studio right now?

 

 

I just completed another large piece and it feels like I’m figuring things out in this one. I have a show up and with mostly large scale works. One benefit is I have extra work space while the paintings are out. I also have four medium works that are in play but they're in an early stage of the process. They've been showing me new possibilities and I'm spending time with them. I don't want to rush through them because they're making me re-think some things.

 

 

 

Can you describe your working routine?

 

 

When I'm in my normal routine I've found that I work best in the early morning. I find that I can get more done in a good five or six hour morning before lunch than I get done in an 8-10 hour day if I start later. There's something nice about working in the early morning hours. There are less interruptions and I listen to the city waking up, people walking to work and leaving my building. My morning work ethic started because I used to get bad insomnia which is debilitating. I'd wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and not be able to sleep again till well into the day. My final solution was to go into the studio and work. At noon I go to my dojo and work out then come back and sometimes work more, sometimes not. This morning start cured my insomnia, and gave me more focus. Now I generally aim for 6 or 7 AM wake and start time. I wake up and get into my studio and work for a few hours then take a walk to the corner for coffee but not really break, just to get out and walk for five minutes. I usually take weekends off but not always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?

I am acutely affected by my work space. Right now I work in at home. I have two 4 x 8 ft. pieces of plywood up to protect my walls, so I'm working on this 8 foot square. It's not really enough space and I'm about to expand it. I get good light which is not so important to making the work but is important to viewing the the paintings. The way my apartment is I get some direct sunlight and it's during these hours that the work takes on different personalities. I am running out of space. Due to this I'm about to restart a series of paper works, I started at Bemis last spring, but didn't get to explore enough. Residencies have been crucial to my work and it's progress. Working in these other spaces has allowed me to grow in unexpected ways and to make work that wouldn't be possible in my current space.

 

Visitor,

oil on canvas, 48″ x 65″ x4″, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.

My work has three distinct stages. I build the shapes and cover them with canvas using gesso as a glue. That's often the most laborious part of the process and maybe the least rewarding but it is also a pivotal part. The paint takes cues from the shape of the canvas and that's when the shape gets decided. I usually do thumbnail sketches but sometimes just dive in if I feel sure about what I want.

I then do an underpainting and this has been evolving but it's mostly so I don't have any color or white showing through the oil paint. Then I get to the oil and it's almost as if the work has a personality at this point and it kind of guides me. Sometimes it's a little antagonistic and fights me. When I've got good flow it's like the painting is a partner and we're having a discussion. It lets me know what it wants and I try to work with it. Once I apply the paint I have three days, then the paint starts to congeal and dry. When that happens I scrape it off and let it dry, sand it and start again. I never trust it to be done till I've slept on it and can view it with fresh eyes. To get the effect I've been searching for I've had to build my own brushes from already large brushes. I think I may go back to smaller strokes at one point but I'm still having too much fun with this really big motion.

As I've gotten older I've realized how important it is to edit. I don't let a painting get called done till I'm certain it cannot get better. I'm not afraid of scrapping the paint and starting over. In fact I have a number of old works that I continue to fight with. If I really cannot resolve a piece I'll eventually destroy it but only after giving it a worthy effort. That can last for years in on and off struggle. Some of my favorites are the ones that don't work with me at first. Eventually if I figure out what wasn't working, it's an aha moment and I've broken through. These are the ones you really learn something from which can move the work forward.





 

 

 

 

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

 

 

The edge of the canvas! I use black and people sometimes stand looking at these paintings and ask me how many colors I'm using. The reflected light can be very bright and colorful. I have experimented with adding color to the black but in the end that wasn't what I wanted and it wasn't even apparent. Last year I started giving color to the sides of some of these works and it's only happened after a long deliberation with myself. There were some early casualties but also some unexpected and happy surprises. I've gravitated to hot pink on the sides because this color really does make a white wall glow around the work. I still paint some black on the sides and my most recent work has just one of its sides pink. I feel like I'm getting there but am not quite there yet. I think it's important to have unresolved aspects of your work. The unresolved aspects of the work push you to do better, and maybe you'll figure out or maybe not.

 

 

 

Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?

 

 

It was when I set strict parameters that my work became far more interesting to me and in a way opened up a world I hadn't expected.  I resolved to stay with black for at least a few years. When I started doing them, they were little meditative side pieces. I'd often wipe them down after the day and start them again the next. It wasn't about finishing a painting but more about seeing what I could get paint to do with the reflected light. I still have most of the early ones. I don't sell those ones. They're the seeds to what I'm doing now.

 

 

 

 

Jam Exhibit, currently on show at the 

Narthex Gallery at Saint Peter's Church

 

 

 







What does the future hold for this work?


I have no idea and I like it that way. OK, maybe smaller for the near term. But, I like that I've been able to be surprised. I hope the work will continue to do that for me. Normally I need to change things up after a few years, but I feel like I'm just scratching the surface of what I'm doing and it's very exciting. I have some large sculpture projects that involved reflected light that I'd like to make, but I need to find a place and funding for them, I think if that happens it will bring change to this work

Dragon Sex,

oil on canvas, 30 x 50 inches approximate 2012

 

 

 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I think it's important to spend as much time looking at our contemporaries and with the internet it's easier than it has ever been. I have found other really great artists through a few blogs like this one and through Facebook. There is no comparable to standing in the room with a painting but you can still get a good sense of work in photo-images. I feel my contemporaries are as important to me as my predecessors.

 

Some of my favorite living artists today are Susan Carr, Mark Zimmermann, Alex Couwenberg, Wess Dahlberg, Robert Kingston, You – Valerie Brennan, Erin Lawler, Christopher Rico, Brigid Watson, Svenja Deininger, Wendy McWilliams, Mark Hollis, Jason Mones, Hernan Ardila Delgado, Diane Scott,  Matthew Dibble, Megan Geckler, Rodger Stevens, Ryan Cobourn, Joanne Mattera, Jerry Thomas, Katie Grauer, Duane Paul Davidson, Kokichi Umezaki, James Little, Julie Mehretu, Ayessha Quraishi, Kevin Finklea, Jason Michael Hackenwerth, Lisa Von Koch, Cristina Popovici. You know, just by making a list I'm already pissing people off who I'm forgetting to include. In fact I'm pretty sure I didn't name half of the artists I admire. The point is, some of these people I know many I do not. Some are friends and other distant acquaintances, all of them influence me in some way. It's very important for us artists in todays world to do exactly what this blog is doing by supporting living artists, and giving us a voice. Thank you for that and the opportunity to be a part of this.





BRIAN EDMONDS

Leif Eriksson

36 x 36 in. acrylic, pastel, and oil stick on panel

 

 

 

 

What are you working on in your studio right now?

 

I am currently working on a series of panels ranging in size from 12 x 12 in. to 48 x 48 in.  The hard surface lends itself to mark making and aggressive methods.  The paintings are loosely based on maps, historical references, and the landscape.  Of late historical maps have played a greater role in the process.  

 

 

Can you describe your working routine?

 

I constantly work and rework paintings. I surround myself with influential matter but not too much.  I will insulate myself from artists and things that might have too much influence.  I study color, line, shape, and form but not to the point of losing my identity.   
Sometimes a random color from a magazine or a phrase from a book will stir something from within.   Painting on a consistent basis allows me to create a cohesive body of work.  Although taking a few weeks off when I feel out of sorts allows me to refocus and regain momentum in the studio. 

 

 

Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?

 

My studio is a room on the lower level of my home.  It is by far the best space I have ever had.  I previously painted in a small (11 x 7 ft.) room in an apartment and a unairconditioned/unheated garage with a single light bulb.  My newest space is around 20 x 20 ft.  Five windows measuring 7 ft. in height provide a lot of natural light.  The natural light has allowed me to see and use color in a new way.  The palette is much brighter and bolder than in previous years.  


 

 

 

 

Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.


Like many artist I am influenced by my surroundings.  Seeing the lay of the land on a constant basis has intentionally/unintentionally shaped my work.  I once worked from photos and drawings.  Things were much more structured.  I now work directly on the surface.  Often drawing with pastel, paint sticks, or other materials.  Things evolve from the marks, forms, and color I use.  The erasures and remnants left by overpainting and scraping coalesce in to the “end result.”  Many times the “end result” doesn’t last very long.  I obsess over the smallest detail.  I scrutinize the paintings before I go to bed and when I awake in the morning.  Brushing my teeth or ironing my clothes I critique my work.  If the painting does not find a home soon enough it will be reworked many times over during its life.

Russian Ballet

48 x 36 in. acrylic, pastel, and oil stick on panel

 

 

 

 

 

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

 

The goal is to create more expressive and free flowing work.  In the beginning my paintings were expressive to the point of being almost naïve.  As I refined my methods, things became more about the forms and less about the painting as a whole.  At times the painting would suffer from this attention to detail.  I want to allow the work to breathe and be more open.  The best work, be it my painting or someone else’s, flows effortlessly.

 

 

Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?

 

Currently I use a variety of materials and methods.  Acrylic, pastel, paint sticks, cattle markers, house paint, etc. find their way into my paintings.  Sennelier is my favorite brand of paint.  I do like the matte quality of cheaper paints found at local craft stores.  Often times laying down a layer of paint like Sennelier or Golden with a matte layer on top.  I find it much easier to draw on top of the matte layer.  It has an almost chalkboard surface.  House paint is sometimes mixed with the matte paint to varying degrees.  The glossy nature and full body of black house paint is something I have yet to find in artist quality paint. 

I prefer wood or hardboard panels to canvas.  I am very hard on the painting surface.  I use kitchen knives and other crude objects to gouge, carve, or scrape the surface.  Years ago I would nail random pieces of wood and other objects to the paintings.  Eventually my work shifted away from these constructs but many of the methods remain.    

"The paintings intentionally and unintentionally inform one another. 

I like to put them up together to see how they play off one another."

 

 

 

 

 

What does the future hold for this work?

 

To create a cohesive body of work built on drawing and mark making. I feel my educational background as a history teacher indirectly affects my work.  Historical people, places, events, and maps have been a focus of mine for close to 20 years.  My current work includes primitive markings found on maps.  I remember completing history assignments as a young boy, using crude symbols for mountains or singular marks held together by a horizontal line to form fencing.  I began using these symbolic features about 15 years ago.    I recently began reusing these forms.   

 

I will also continue to explore pattern and line within set parameters.  I do not want the paintings to become ornamental or design based.  Abstract or not a sense of place is always the driving force behind the painting. 

 

 

 

 

Wrapped in Rainbows,

  36 x 36 in. acrylic, pastel, and oil stick on panel

 

 

 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I appreciate the opportunity to share my views on painting and my work.  I would like to invite people to visit curatingcontemporary.com, Painters Table (Brett Baker), and the Structure and Imagery (Paul Behnke) blog.  PT, Structure and Imagery, and blogs such as Studio Critical have impacted me to varying degrees.  The ability to read, hear, and see what other artists are doing has been an indelible source for me.  Curating Contemporary is an online exhibition space dedicated to showing work of contemporary artists here and abroad. The goal of curatingcontemporary.com is to garner more attention for artists and curators alike. To make new connections and inroads with artists, curators, and galleries.

 

I would also like to thank Julie Torres for including me in the ALLTOGETHER show in Brooklyn this past summer.  Showing with such a talented group of artists working in different manners caused me to rethink art in both personal and general terms.  The ability to bounce ideas off a group of painters is something I sorely miss at a local level.    

 

JOEL LONGENECKER

Cigar Envy, 40" x 30", oil on linen, 2012 - 2013

 

 

 

 

What are you working on right now?

 

 

Since last January 2012, I’ve been working on a bunch of medium sized canvases ranging from 40” x 36” to 54” x 50”.  As I finish some I start others, so I’m now at the point where I’ve got maybe two dozen or so finished paintings. This is the first work I’ve done since moving upstate in 2010 after living in New York for 20 years. I had to put my studio work on hold as we made that transition. When I started working again, I began where I had left off, but it just didn’t feel right.  I went through a period of rejecting and reworking everything.  When things did finally fall into place, I ended up with the densest, most heavily-worked surfaces I’ve ever made.

 

 

 

Can you describe your working routine?

 

 

When I start my day in the studio, I usually have a pretty clear idea about what I need to focus on from the previous day’s work.  It’s usually midmorning before I’m in the studio, and by that time, I’m anxious to get started.  So mornings are generally not my time for serious looking and thinking.  I wait until I’m done working for the day and then I’ll sit down and look things over and plot my next move.  Once I’m into it, I like to keep the momentum going.  Spontaneity is everything, and it’s a struggle to find the path from control to freedom.   I try to get to the point each day where I’m working freely, taking risks in the work, and letting the painting lead me where it wants to go.  When all of these things come together, I’ve had a great day in the studio. 

 

 

 

Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.

 

 

I’m after an organic, generative process where one thing slowly leads to another with each piece resolving itself in it’s own way.  Working like this makes it impossible for me to duplicate what I’ve already done, keeping the process open and alive.  I always start several things at once, but am careful to quickly fold them into the work that is already in progress.  In a sense, my work never “starts” or “stops”, but instead is more like a continuous loop in which things are cycled in and out.  Ultimately, what I want is for the paintings to look like they’ve created themselves, much like a tree, or any other bit of nature, that slowly grew into it’s final form.   

 

 

 

 

 

Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?


As I mentioned previously, we moved in 2010 and building a studio was part of that project.  My wife is also an artist, so we needed a space that would accommodate both of us. The building is barn-like, with my studio on the ground floor and my wife’s on the second floor.  We were able to design the studios to provide maximum storage and working areas. My studio has a wall of glass on one side, two good walls with high ceilings, and the fourth wall is lined with painting racks. I work in the same spot by the bank of windows every day.  It’s been very different working here compared to working in the city. It’s so quiet, and the feeling of open space and the light is very different.  Strangely, my work has become denser and darker in this setting.


What are you having the most trouble resolving?


Over the years, I’ve made many large paintings.  I like working on a large  scale because it enables me to create an enveloping space.  Whenever I make smaller ones, it seems like I have to work longer and harder to resolve them, which I always find a bit ironic.  Now however, I have the opposite problem. As the surfaces have become denser and the marks smaller and more embedded in the ground, the larger paintings have become more challenging for me to resolve.  On the bigger paintings, the individual marks play a lesser role, especially when interacting with the dense surface, making it more difficult to clarify the structure and space.

 

 

 

 

Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?

 

 

I like using traditional media; watercolor, pastel, charcoal and especially oil paint. 
I work with these same materials year after year.  I love being able to pull a painting out of my storage racks that I made years ago and think about how it relates to what I’m doing today.  The fact that my materials have remained constant becomes a kind of equalizer, enabling me to see more easily the changes in form, space, light, and color that have happened over the years. 

 

 

What does the future hold for this work?

 

 

In the short term, I’m looking forward to the next step as I bring some larger canvases into the mix and expand upon what I’ve done this year.  And in the long term, I know that it will take what seems like an eternity for me to be able to “see” my own work.  So, it’s too early to tell what my work from this past year will lead to. What I do know is that this is an excruciatingly slow process, one full of contradictory and opposing forces, like the immediacy of the day to day work, juxtaposed with the slow process of gaining insight into it.  It’s kind of like a scroll, unraveling bit by bit, revealing more each day.

 

 

 

 

Magic Mountain, 54" x 50", oil on linen, 2012 - 2013

 

 

 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

 

 

Thank you Valerie for giving me this opportunity to talk about my work.  And thanks for creating this blog which has introduced me to the work of so many great artists!

Here are a few images that relate to what I’ve been thinking about...

Vincent Van Gogh, The Potato Eaters, 1885

 

I love the empathetic relationship that Van Gogh has with his subjects. When I look at a Van Gogh painting, I forget that I’m looking at a painting. 

 

 

Soutine, Hill at Ceret, 1921

 

Soutine’s juggling act of balancing structure and control with total abandon is a constant source of inspiration. I love it when he stops describing things logically and the paint takes on a life of it’s own.

 

 

 

 

Marsden Hartley, Evening Storm, Schoodic Maine No. 2, 1942

 

I love Hartley’s spiritual connection with nature.

 

 

 

 

Philip Guston, Black Sea, 1977

 

I love the way Guston pushes paint around on a surface as if he’s modeling forms out of clay.  I always get the sense that he’s surprised himself by what’s emerged.






JERED SPRECHER

Held Close, 40 x 44", 2012

 

 

 

 

What are you working on in your studio right now?

 

 

I have eleven paintings in process kicking around the studio at the moment, plus a larger 7’ x 5’ painting that is in a holding pattern. I am building and finishing a table to use for one of my tabletop constructions of arranged drawings and found objects. Recently, I completed two prints. One is a woodcut that my friend Justin Quinn helped me print up in St. Cloud, Minnesota. We did four runs on the print and completed it in just two days. The other print was a more experimental print using inkjet and Xerox. It is a “double exposure” of an image of three doves. I think the images and forms from both prints are going to double back into the paintings that are in process in the studio. In February my solo show, “I Always Lie” opened at Jeff Bailey Gallery. The back wall of the gallery features an arrangement of ten paintings. Each painting needed to stand on its own and exist in a larger group. My goal was a sense of compression by hanging several paintings close together on one wall, while the rest of the gallery was relatively spaced out. I find myself thinking about the relationship between that back wall, the arrangements on the tables and my painting practice.

 

 

 

 

 

Upon the Sea, installation, 2011

 

 

 

 

Can you describe your working routine?

 

 

I alternate between studio days and teaching days and that really sets the rhythm for each week. On studio days I go into the studio at 8am. It takes me time to warm up to the idea of painting. I will read for twenty minutes or so and then start mixing paint or looking at the decisions I made during my last studio session. Being in the studio on the early side is wonderful. I relish the moment when I look at the clock and it is 10am and I have already made major decisions and progress and I still have a whole day to work. Around 4pm I stop painting to spend time with family, tend to professional and teaching responsibilities and then sometimes sneak in a little more studio time.

 

 

 

Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?

 

 

Right now I keep two studios here in Knoxville; one is at the University of Tennessee where I am on faculty. I use this space for larger paintings and projects. This is a nice space, high ceilings with windows looking towards the mountains. I am really pushing to do larger more ambitious paintings and this space definitely provides the room to work at a larger scale. I have several completed 7’ x 5’ canvases and an 8’ x 6’. There is also an 8’ x 20’ canvas prepped and ready to go.

 

My other studio space is at home. A little over a year ago, my wife and I decided to turn our garage into a studio space. We have three little boys and I wanted to be around them as much as possible, but still be able to get time in the studio. It is great. The space has a concrete slab floor, with four windows and about 500 sq ft divided between two rooms. I use the larger front room to work on paintings and larger works on paper. I have three open walls in the studio that I can work on and have paintings hanging around the room. The back space has a long table and it is where I work on small drawings, sort through source material, and store supplies. Having the dedicated space to work at home helps me get a lot accomplished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.

 

 

In the studio, I do not think about making a series or making a show. There are generally 15-20 paintings in process at any point. I may not touch one of them for several months or even a year or more, but they are waiting around just in case. Paintings usually start from two different places. Some paintings begin with a found image, something like a quilt, gemstone, graffiti, architectural photograph, or child’s drawing. These source materials are starting points for the paintings. I paint from these source materials to find a way to understand the original image or object and my attraction to it.

 

The other way that paintings start is less structured and often results from taking left over paint and applying it to empty canvases. It is a strange mix of thrift and feeling around in the dark, trying to find a painting. Whether starting from a predetermined image or by “blindly” scrubbing and scrapping at an empty canvas with paint, I find that the two processes often meet somewhere in the middle as paint and image contend with each other on the surface of the canvas. Lately I have been thinking about how these two approaches relate to inductive and deductive reasoning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

 

 

I have this large canvas around 7 feet tall and I have literally been stuck on it for a year now. It has layers of transparent patterns on it and negative spaces that create four large circles and it needs a seismic change, but I have not found it yet, it is so frustrating but so exciting at the same time, trying to figure out what it needs, but not overdoing it at the same time. These “problems” are some of the most exciting things about painting.

 

 

 

Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?

 

 

Yes and yes. New materials and approaches are great because they get me out of my habits and comfort zone and inform my eye and hand about what I do and do not know. But parameters like paint and canvas can be just as freeing and informative; they force me to imagine the infinite possibilities within a closed set of limitations.

 

 

 

 

 

I Always Lie, installation, 2013

 

 

 

 

What does the future hold for this work?

 

 

This summer I am going to be spending two months in residence at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. I am excited to live and work in west Texas, soaking in the striking, natural environment. I will spend time exploding my practice and pushing boundaries. While I do not know the exact ways the work will be impacted by this experience, I look forward to the twists and turns that wait.

 

 

 

Is there anything else you would like to add?

 

 

Thank you, Valerie, for the opportunity to be part of this project.

 

Here are some images from my catalog of source material that I use in the studio:

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



DOUGLAS WITMER

What are you working on in your studio right now?


The last 12 months have been very busy producing and exhibiting work, but at this moment I am packing my studio in order to move it.  I've been working in a space within my home for the past 7 years.  I'm moving to a newly converted studio building about 10 blocks away from where I live in West Philadelphia.  My home studio is really great, but the time has come for a little more work space and separation between work and family life.



Can you describe your working routine?


With the impending move this is likely about to change drastically.  The past few years I have tended to make work in groups and often driven by external due dates related to exhibitions.  So it doesn't feel "routine" in the way that I imagine or idealize a routine to be.  In addition to my studio work I'm quite involved with running a small family business and parenting my three children.  I have to switch gears constantly all day every day.  However, my home studio has allowed me to be physically in the same place as my work at some point every day.  Whether or not I am working with my hands in the studio, I have been able to have a daily relationship to my art through actually seeing and considering it.



Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?


My current and future studios both have plentiful daylight. I feel better and work best during the daytime (even though I also work at night). Daylight is a "light" kind of light. Light light vs. heavy light…whatever that means…that's what I go for in my work. Even in more darkly-colored work, I still want it light. Music is important in my space. I usually have headphones on when working. I keep some of my musical instruments in the studio, too. I title my paintings after lyrical phrases from the music I play when working.

Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.

Even though my current work may be categorized as geometric, I think I'm quite "gestural" in my approach to it. Almost every decision I make ultimately comes down to how it feels, or how I imagine that the result will feel to me physically. And when I say physically, let's not forget "optically." Seeing often gets connected to thinking very quickly…perhaps more quickly than any of the other senses. I want to stay as long as possible in the moment of feeling myself seeing. I feel best about my work when I feel myself wanting to keep looking at it for the feeling I get when I see it.

But to answer your question more directly. My process begins in the preparation (i.e. priming canvas), which typically plays a big role in in the outcome of the work. I begin work in groups and try to finish everything without abandoning it, though that has never been possible. I work with water-based media. My processes are completely additive. This means every decision made happens on the surface and is potentially/likely visible in the final state of the piece. Typically the beginning of my work is very fast and exciting, and then each work reaches a fulcrum of "unfinished balance." At this point I work on it most by looking at it, somewhat paralyzed by the unknown of what could happen next, because each new action has the potential to either clarify or ruin the work. This challenge compels me to keep coming back.

Fruitville installation, 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are you having the most trouble resolving?

This past year I have dreamed about some paintings. In the dreams they are a beautiful outgrowth of what I am making now and it's very clear to me how I could make them. When I am in the studio, nothing I do produces what I remember the paintings in the dreams to be like, nor can I describe to you what they look like.

Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?

I make work in several ways. I make wall-mounted wooden low relief objects, works on a particular vintage school-grade writing paper which was found and given to me by my dad, and more standard-format paintings on canvas and paper. My paintings are pretty straight-ahead/traditional in terms of materials. The other two bodies of work are already begun by nature of them being found and I bring all kinds of materials into the process with them. It took me a long time to personally reconcile that these three bodies of work all had equal value. But now it's comforting. It makes me feel like a multi-instrumentalist musician. If one day I don't have the energy for the fine points of violin, I can go bang on drums. It's still making music.

What does the future hold for this work?



Once I get my studio moved, there are a few "technical hunches" I want to follow as it relates to my paintings. But otherwise, I honestly have no idea.

 

 

 

 

Blank Space, 2013

 

 

 

DAVID QUINN

'pewter18', 2012, gesso, tracing paper,

acrylic and crayon on board (20.5 x 13.3cm)

What are you working on in your studio right now?


I am working on a big piece which is made up of lots of small pieces . I am also trying out some new pieces which are moving towards sculpture.




Can you describe your working routine?


I don't have a particular routine. My wife is working as an art teacher at the moment and we have two young boys whom I mind a lot during the day, so usually whenever I am not doing that I  can get into the studio to do some work (doesn't really feel like work though).




Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?


I am using a small bedroom in our house, its cosy and the light is good. My desk is facing the window, I like being able to look up every now and then and see people walking down the road. There is a golf course opposite the house so it feels more rural than it actually is. Its nice being able to go into "the studio" whenever an idea occurs to me. I have a shed at the end of the garden with a clear roof, the light is fantastic but its too cold to use in the winter.



Tell me about your process, where things begin, how they evolve etc.


 
For the past two years I have been working almost exclusively on panels which are 205 x 133mm. The starting point can be anything, a colour, a found piece of paper, another painting etc.. I work on a lot of pieces at the same time. I like being able to see as many of them as I can while I am working. They feed into and off each other, some sit for ages before coming to fruition others can come together quite quickly, the trick is knowing when to step back. I like to layer things up. I probably approach each piece more like a page in a notebook, that's why having lots is important, it means I don't get too precious and am not overly concerned about messing something up. I try to make the most of every mark or layer, look at it from a few different angles and think about how, if at all I could make something of it.This can mean sitting for ages just looking at the work. I want each piece to contain an element of the unexpected and for that to happen means not having too many plans beforehand. Working on a small scale and on lots of pieces at the same time means you can be a lot more spontaneous which I think is crucial if the work is to have life.  Within the parameters of the scale its a jumbled up unpredictable way of working and I try to let things take their own course although inevitably I probably repeat myself more than I am aware of.



What are you having the most trouble resolving?


The hardest thing for me is talking about and explaining what I do. I think a lot about painting but I don't know how much it helps. As regards the why? I haven't really been able to come up with an answer, all I know is that I feel frustrated when I cannot paint. In relation to actually making the work I know some see it in terms of problem solving, but for me its more about cultivating the right frame of mind, because when I am enjoying it things go well.



Do you experiment with different materials a lot or do you prefer to work within certain parameters?


I do experiment with materials although not as much as I used to because I know by now which ones give me what I want.  Some of what I do is collage and I will use anything if its the right texture/ colour etc. in the past I have used bubble wrap, tin foil, perspex, a laminating machine, shoe polish etc.(not that there is anything particularly original about this, Kurt Schwitters was doing something similar a hundred years ago). As regards painting materials I prefer waterbased for their speed of drying and because they're easier to get out of the carpet

'pewter17', 2012,  acrylic, collage and

crayon on paper on board (20.5 x 13.3cm)

What does the future hold for this work?


MOMA? only joking I hope to be able to submit the large piece for the RHAs annual summer exhibition in Dublin.



Is there anything else you would like to add?


It's great to see so much engaging quality abstract painting around at the moment.

'pewter1', 2012, acrylic and watercolour

on paper on panel (20.5 x 93cm)