On making a mark
In early 2005, I painted this portrait of my dear friend Jesse.
Jesse
2005
acrylic on canvas
19 x 15 inches
It said everything I meant it to say: it told everything I knew of him at the time. Four years later, I have more to say about him—and so does my hand! In the process of rethinking Jesse for a new portrait of him, I also re-evaluated the way I paint and how it’s changed since 2005.
Over the years, many things have affected the way my paintings look.
A new kind of brush was the agent of change around the time that I painted the first version of Jesse, and, generally, my tools do have a profound impact on my work.
Last summer, it was an injury to my right hand that up-ended both the way I work and how my paintings look.
But in between those major changes and even throughout them, my mark-making remains fundamentally the same.
And it’s not a matter of choice.
I don’t consciously choose the look of my paintings. I’m not even conscious in the usual sense of the word when I’m painting: I’m so focused on the work that it’s more like my eyes and my hands are making the choices instead of me.
In today’s art world, there are two kinds of people: the ones who work like I do and understand just what I mean, and the ones who switch media and styles with ease and alacrity.
I’ll admit it: I have felt judged by the artists and art-types who fall into the latter category. They’ve told me that my style is a “crutch”—and that’s the specific term that more than one of them used.
I’ve taken their feedback to heart and tried to use what they said to grow as an artist, but, after a good deal of reflection, I’ve decided that I wouldn’t change the way I work even if I could. Why would I do anything differently while what I do still feels right to me?
I never consciously thought about developing a style—even when I was first starting out. I’ve only ever concentrated on making my work better.
In the end, I think my style critics are mistaken: a consistent way of making a mark is not a crutch at all. It’s actually very like a friendship, developed over time through ever deepening conversations—not between people but between artist and medium as well as between artist and audience through the intermediary of the work.
Gwenn Seemel
Jesse
2009
acrylic on canvas bag
18 x 12 inches
(detail below with detail of the 2005 portrait)
Your style is how you make a mark. It’s who you are—even if the outward expression of it changes with each piece you make. There’s no right or wrong: style just is.
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CATEGORIES: - Process images - Practice - You Bag -
(2) Comments / Commentaires: On making a mark
I love your work using my handsome son Jesse. He first showed me the paintings you’d done of he and Rory a few years ago. I loved them immediately and I love the new things on your website. You have a gift! Keep up the fabulous work. Cheryl Young
McKenzie Leopold...
WOW!
--- -- - --- - ---- - - --- ----- -- -Your style is AMAZING! I love it! keep following your inner artist. It is honest and free and wonderful.
DO NOT… I repeat DO NOT listen to any critics; unless you do so with the understanding that they want others to feel like they know what they are talking about. Remember that they DON’T.
I envy your style. I wish mine were as free and not so terribly realistic.