Intent

If it stays still long enough I’ll paint it!

The above statement is an ongoing joke concerning me within my family and friends, for the most part it’s true. If it is paintable I’ve already painted it. Whilst attending University I lived in a co-operative student housing environment and each quarter I would change rooms or residences and with each move I would paint my new space, the management there loved me. Be it fine art, graphics, home renovation or a fresh lick of paint to brighten up a space I absolutely love painting. Working as a Scenic Artist for over a decade and a half I can honestly say I’ve not once stopped working to check my watch to see how much longer until the day ends, it’s quite the opposite, when I’m not painting due to a slow down in the Film Industry I often feel as though I’m being punished for loving my work too much. Watching others create or renovate I feel a twinge of jealousy take over me wishing I could join in on the fun.

Though working in Film can be quite lucrative, especially during busy seasons when we are working 12, 14, 20 hours a day 6 days a week, I’ve never been motivated by the money. I paint/create because I have an internal desire to do so, a passion. I love nothing more than witnessing the transformation of a canvas, a space and how that transformation affects those within it’s environment, especially if I am the one responsible for the change. In the world of film we often spend vast amounts of time and materials creating sets which are never clearly seen on the big screen. When I first started out in the business I was quite disheartened by this believing our efforts to be redundant. On the set of Bojangles one of the main characters approached me to thank me personally for all the hard work I had put into recreating Harlem, he explained that as an actor it is vitally important for the environment in which they perform to be believable, it allows them to get into character and stay there. I believe the same to be true of one’s home environment. The colours, the lighting, the placement of furniture, art, accessories, the texture… all create a mood which has a direct, subconscious, psychological impact on how we feel.

Perhaps through my own interest in Alternative Healing, Colour Vibrations, Feng Shui… I have unwittingly projected that knowledge into my work. The majority of people I come in contact with do not seem to realize the importance of choosing the right colours for their space. So long as the environment appears fresh, they are happy. The truth is much more complex. Colours affect different people in different ways based on their own personal psychological make up. Spending vast amounts of time in a particular environment changes one’s mood and thus changes the way they think, feel, internalize, project and interact with others. This is equally true of personal and working environments. Sales and Marketing teams have worked directly with Designers for years to create just the right look/feel for their company’s logo, reception area, business brochures…. If you’ve ever spent time waiting in a goverment building you know the feeling of boredom that quickly sets in, the space is sterile. Fast food restaurants utilize bright, mainly primary colours, especially yellows and oranges as they are known to stimulate the appetite, red is used to make one feel anxious, it speeds up the eating time allowing for a fast turn over of patrons. Fine dining establishments do the opposite, they use earth tones, warm secondary colours to make one feel comfortable, relaxed.

Artists create because they have to. For some it’s a purging, a release, a necessary vent in which to unburden themselves. For others it’s a way of expressing political concerns, personal propaganda, or a means of self expression. Artists push boundaries, cause people to stop and think, digest the environment around them and hopefully open them to new thought processes. I do what I do simply because I can, I want to, I need to and if it stays still long enough, I’ve painted it.

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