Fresh Publicity

As a Solopreneur, I divide my time between the business side and the art side of my professional life. It's a constant struggle between wanting to paint vs. needing to do PR, advertising, social media and so on. Just knowing where to put my energies on the business side is a challenge.

That's why it's really nice when some free and unexpected publicity falls in my lap. I recently had two bits of PR happen out of the blue. 

First, El Dorado Magazine published an article 'Jerome Wasn't Built in a Day'. The author Lauri Davies interviewed me and featured my work at the top of the article. Click the yellow link above to check it out.

Second, I was featured in Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine online, in an article they did about the 'Celebration of Art' event last month at the Grand Canyon. My studio painting is featured, and surprisingly it's still available, go figure. Click the link above to see the article.

Recently there was a guy in my studio hanging out while his wife shopped for jewelry across the hall. I'm used to being the 'waiting room' for languishing husbands, but sometimes it works in my favor. This gentleman began really looking at my work. He would go up close to a painting, then step back a ways with a slightly puzzled look on his face. I watched him do this a few times and then I asked if he had any questions. 

He said "How is it that your paintings look 'different' up close?"  He didn't know it yet, but he'd just made a breakthrough in his understanding of paintings.

I proceeded to tell him a bit about 'paint quality', and how the type of brushstrokes in an oil painting show the artist's maturity and personal style. I explained that, for me, I'm always working to develop my own 'shorthand' with my strokes. From the correct viewing distance, I want the painting to read beautifully. But upon close inspection, I want to surprise and excite you with an almost abstract quality in my paint application. 

In my case, I'm trying to go beyond what most people think of as traditional impressionism, with its 'loose'  (but often under-considered) brushwork. I want a more thoughtfully-designed yet still very painterly look up close, and a natural organic look from the proper viewing distance.

You can see some examples of this in the photos above. The close-up on the right shows some uber thick paint in the sky, contrasted by the delicately handled, semi-transparent passage on the left.

Once you learn to see this, you can't go back. Today when I go to a gallery or museum, I often see a painting from across the room that excites me, only to be disappointed in it when I get up close. Other times I marvel at the brushwork and how the artist took something literal, and came up with his own language for it that is uniquely his own.

For me, great painting is about more that just the idea, though the overall emotional appeal is primary. The craftsmanship and skill in the brushwork and design must be there too. 'Fine' art requires all aspects of the work to be masterful. At least, that's one of the goals I'm striving for.

It was cool to see someone having that moment of discovery. I hope it inspires you to take a closer look too.

Koya Klips

 
Koya says, "Train your humans well...so they'll take you to the river. The best sticks are found there, and sometimes if you're lucky, a bit of dead fish to roll in too!" Happy girl.