Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Patience Brewster shares the art experience

In  honor of the recent Artist Appreciation Month, I was invited by the artist,  Patience Brewster , to share along with other artists,  some of my art experiences and experiences in art.  Patience Brewster is a delightful artist whose figurines and whimsical Christmas Ornaments, are must haves on my list.
I am honored and a bit daunted by the request. Ok, here goes....

 1. As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly
affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist?


I believe I was born to be an artist. My father's endless stories fueled my imagination and my mother's artistic talent inspired. My mother was my first art instructor. She could paint and draw, and her skills fascinated me. She taught me how to draw my first person and in the first grade, I received an honor for my painting of, "Two boys in the Grass", that was quite an achievement for me.



My mom and I getting ready to attend the 48th annual International exhibit at the SDAI, where my work had been chosen for exhibit. She was thrilled.

We lived in LA and I had some exposure to the arts through museum trips but it was the people in my life that I believe were instrumental in my desire to express my world through art; my mother and father, my artist aunt, and all their imaginative and artistic friends. When I was five, I sat still for a portrait by one of our neighbors, just so that I could watch the painting's progress.
Still in grade school I was mesmerized by a large volume of works my aunt and uncle had by the artist, Andrew Wyeth. Whenever I visited, I sat with that heavy book, pouring over each painting, entranced by Wyeth's renditions and skill. Today that book rests on my end table.


 2. As an artist, what do you hope to convey with your work?

My work is impressionist with an abstract bent. It's done by throwing and splattering paint onto a horizontal canvas, using sticks and brushes. When I am throwing, I am trying to interpret an image or an idea, generally a landscape I am familiar with. I am fairly good with my throws and sometimes, in an effort to 'see' the image,  I end up over painting a work. When that happens, the work looks painted on, rather than thrown. If it gets to this point,  I have failed in what I want to do. With my technique, I feel my work should suggest an image, not replicate it (we have realism and photos for that). What I try to convey is the essence of an image not the image itself.
                             Cardinal's Woods, photo on left, painting and detail on right (Virginia).

 3. What memorable responses have you had to your work?

I had painted a painting from an area near Simi Valley CA. It was an overgrown  ravine with a trickle of water, near the side of a road. I titled it, "The Ravine". Later that year I exhibited that painting in an outdoor venue in San Diego. I was standing near the painting when a woman approached. She stood in front of the painting for a long time. Finally she turned to me and said, "You have painted the lake behind the house".  She then proceeded to tell me a bit of her story. She was raised in Hiroshima, during a very dark time. She said the only joy she had was when she and her family went to stay at a separate house, that house had a lake behind the property. There she found joy. I was mesmerized by her story. Even more so, when her brother found her in front of my painting and she asked him, "what is this", and he replied, "the lake behind the house." From that point on the painting has been titled, "The Lake Behind the House". I felt this couple knew more about my painting than I did and their interpretation held more importance and was so much more interesting, than mine.
                                                         The Lake Behind the House

 4. What is your dream project?


My dream project would be to just continue painting. To be able to see and interpret the world from an artist's perspective is more than I could ever have imagined. It is a gift I cherish and hope to be able to continue long into 'older' age.

the painting process
 

5. What artists, of any medium, do you admire? (Famous or not!)

I admire all artists. Anyone that can put pen to paper, voice to song, feet to dance. Actor's, writers, musicians, teachers, doctors, mechanics, parents, students etc...those people of any and many ilks that channel a creative bent into their works. People that see the world with a little different slant, that interpret their vision for others to see. People who are not afraid to  allow themselves the creative freedom to investigate and define themselves and their own world.

Well.. that about sums it up. Thank you very much to Patience Brewster  for allowing me to partake in the artist conversation and to share a bit about my art life. To learn more about  Patience Brewster's art work please follow these links... https://www.patiencebrewster.com/ornamentals.html
https://www.patiencebrewster.com 

L'Attitude Gallery, Boston Mass, Barrier Island

Barrier Island  36x24"  thrown and splattered paint on canvas   2015
LGOCA Laguna Beach, CA

This painting was inspired by the works of Caspar David Friedrich, the haunting solitary seascape, where horizon and sky forge a compromise. The ruckenfigur metaphor here being the bits of sea grass, the only spectator within which one can grasp and decipher the totality of the work. Barrier Island is represented by L'Attitude Gallery in Boston Mass.