Local artists featured in the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art exhibition Midwest Summer: Light and Warmth will speak about their work. This month the guest speakers are Thomas C. Jackson, Paul Marlow, and Stan Wiederspan. Sponsored by International Paper.
An update: The Art Bites event actually went very well. There were about 2 dozen people on hand, and I was asked to speak first.
I introduced myself and said what an honor it was to be included in the exhibition, especially in sharing the floor with two legendary local artists like Thomas Jackson and Stan Wiederspan. I said, “Their work is nationally known, and no one has ever heard of me.” That got huge laughs.
I also told the crowd that generally speaking, I am not a big fan of parking ramps (more laughter). They are necessary evils and not aesthetically pleasing. But there was something about this one that intrigued me. I gave some historical background on the ramp and my reasons for painting it.
I am a fan of Gustav Klimpt, the great Austrian painter, and he liked to paint on square canvases. Even though a square can be more challenging compositionally, I think it works for this painting. I talked about the color palette, the repeated shapes and the juxtaposed horizontal and vertical lines. (I pulled out all the big vocabulary art terms.)
I wrapped up by saying that I learn something from every painting I make, and this one taught me to listen to that inner voice of inspiration. The voice that says, 'That’s cool—I should paint that, or I should photograph that.’
We all have that voice, but too often we don’t listen to it. For this, I’m glad I listened. Surprisingly, no one heckled me.