Last Weekend:
I have a lot to say due to the fact that I went to the Portland Open Studios. I saw a lot of great art and I talked to some really interesting and inspiring people in their work spaces. It was a very good day.
For quite some time I've been following Jesse Reno's work and when I found out he was part of the open studio tours I immediately put a star next to his name. And truly his stop was the highlight of my day.
Jesse had so much energy. He was not shy about talking about his process. He worked on a few different paintings while people milled about his studio holed up in a garage. He spoke of his process while we watched him in action. I was completely fascinated by the fact that he hardly used a brush at all. He mixed paint with his hands directly onto wood panels. In fact the only time I saw him use a brush it was to mix some paint. He had the basic colors in large quantities. He would mix colors right in his hand as opposed to on his pallet. He was able to produce amazing "accidents" with his quick and spontaneous applications of paint. He would scrape back into the paint and apply more paint. He would then search for shapes in his paintings and define some forms with a piece of broken oil pastel.
This was a moment of pure magic for me. I have watched all the films and movies made about Jean Michel Basquiat and I've always been romantically regretful that I did not live in that time, that world when Basquiat was up and coming in New York. Yes, technically it was the 80s and I was a teenager so I was alive. But to have lived during that time in New York when the art world there was so exciting. I've spent so many years dreaming of that time.
Well, I believe that Portland is having that same sort of art renaissance now. There is such a strong, supportive community of artists there doing amazing things. Some of it is tired. I will admit. There are trends that seemed to have been reproduced to death but for the most part people are really doing great and exciting work.
Seeing Jesse Reno at work sort of healed that wound of regret for not being a part of the Basquiat world. It was brilliant in my humble opinion.
I will end this post on that note. I will write about other artists I met on the tour hopefully this week. I think they all deserve their own post.
Meanwhile in the studio/garage:
I'm still working on this piece. It is a combination of acrylics, pen and ink and graphite drawing. I'm enjoying this one so much. I may have to do more pieces like this.
I continue to struggle with this painting. I really enjoy the colors in this painting but it was not making sense to me otherwise. I decided a story needed to be told so I'm working on adding one. Which means more figures. I haven't done much with figures in quite sometime. Maybe that means I'm going back to a more narrative form again. I don't know yet.
I have a lot to say due to the fact that I went to the Portland Open Studios. I saw a lot of great art and I talked to some really interesting and inspiring people in their work spaces. It was a very good day.
For quite some time I've been following Jesse Reno's work and when I found out he was part of the open studio tours I immediately put a star next to his name. And truly his stop was the highlight of my day.
Jesse had so much energy. He was not shy about talking about his process. He worked on a few different paintings while people milled about his studio holed up in a garage. He spoke of his process while we watched him in action. I was completely fascinated by the fact that he hardly used a brush at all. He mixed paint with his hands directly onto wood panels. In fact the only time I saw him use a brush it was to mix some paint. He had the basic colors in large quantities. He would mix colors right in his hand as opposed to on his pallet. He was able to produce amazing "accidents" with his quick and spontaneous applications of paint. He would scrape back into the paint and apply more paint. He would then search for shapes in his paintings and define some forms with a piece of broken oil pastel.
This was a moment of pure magic for me. I have watched all the films and movies made about Jean Michel Basquiat and I've always been romantically regretful that I did not live in that time, that world when Basquiat was up and coming in New York. Yes, technically it was the 80s and I was a teenager so I was alive. But to have lived during that time in New York when the art world there was so exciting. I've spent so many years dreaming of that time.
Well, I believe that Portland is having that same sort of art renaissance now. There is such a strong, supportive community of artists there doing amazing things. Some of it is tired. I will admit. There are trends that seemed to have been reproduced to death but for the most part people are really doing great and exciting work.
Seeing Jesse Reno at work sort of healed that wound of regret for not being a part of the Basquiat world. It was brilliant in my humble opinion.
I will end this post on that note. I will write about other artists I met on the tour hopefully this week. I think they all deserve their own post.
Meanwhile in the studio/garage:
I'm still working on this piece. It is a combination of acrylics, pen and ink and graphite drawing. I'm enjoying this one so much. I may have to do more pieces like this.
I continue to struggle with this painting. I really enjoy the colors in this painting but it was not making sense to me otherwise. I decided a story needed to be told so I'm working on adding one. Which means more figures. I haven't done much with figures in quite sometime. Maybe that means I'm going back to a more narrative form again. I don't know yet.
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