HOLIDAY ISSUE
the journal LevinLand’s
Illustrators
DESIGNED GENIUS:
INTERVIEW WITH:
We get to meet fabled artist
Crista Cloutier
John Van Hamersveld
"THE MASTER CLASS"
World-renown Public artist
Ed Massey
HEATHER LEARY A Real Character
Wendy Popp Profilic Illustrator and Educator Dave Hobrecht Winning Sports Artist
A Tribute to Alan Cober by Leslie Cober-Gentry
Front Cover Art : Robynne Raye
Co-Publisher/Editor Gregg Masters
The Illustrators Journal/Winter
Editor/Writer Lori Hammond Publisher/Creative Director Lon Levin Contributing Writer Leslie Cober-Gentry "Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." — John Wooden
All the work depicted in this magazine are the property of the artists who created the work and cannot be used in any way without the expressed written permission of the publisher and artists.
A TRIBUTE TO ALAN E. COBER Leslie Cober-Gentry gives us some insight into her Society of Illustrators, Hall of Fame father. JOHN VAN HAMERSVELD From endless summers to infinite possibilities. Laurence Cohen covers one of the true greats of illustration and design DAVE HOBRECHT The modern master of sports art fields our questions about his art and life. CRISTA CLOUTIER Teacher, Artist and creator of The Artist's Master Class talks with Lon Levin WENDY POPP Part One of a compelling narrative about one of the best illustrators of her generation. HEATHER LEARY Fresh out of art school with a ton of talent and a wide-eyed vision of her animated future. COULTER YOUNG Coulter takes on rock n' roll subjects as easy as he paints plein art...and the results are colorful and brilliant ED MASSEY A public artist whose work is changing the world. MONA SHAEFER-EDWARDS A legendary court artist and fashion designer talks with Lon Levin
it's just
my opinion by Lon Levin
chime in on matters I feel strongly about... especially the degradation of our world by leaders who not only will not particpate in the "cleanup" of society's ills but condemn it as "fake news". In Gabriel's piece she states "Artists work in isolation, but they are intrinsically messengers, their works communications." I couldn't agree more. We artists are blessed with talent and vision that allows us to tell stories and illuminate situations with imagery that is universal. If executed well there isn't need for words. And the effect can be powerful. Perhaps the greatest example of the power of artwork is Picasso's "Guernica", which depicts the Nazi attack on the Basque capital of that name and the first "total" air raid in history. Though it quietly hangs on a museum wall now, the imagery is savage, brutal and without apology. One can only imagine the effect it had on the viewing public in 1937.
Troubled Times Need Artist to Speak Up I was reading the newspaper recently and I came across a story in the LA Times called "An Artist's Duty To Speak Up" written by Mary Gabriel. The central question in the article is during troubled times what if anything is the duty of an artist? This is an interesting and provocative question. For me it is an easy call to answer since I am inclined to
These days in the wake of a social media onslaught it's not easy to cut through the clutter. And artists have to make a living. Who has time for personal messages about the state of our world? Well, as a sports coach once told me..."Make time!" So, what to do?... Each of us have to look within ourselves and question if we are up to the task of creating work that comunicates our deepest feelings and if those feelings are strong enough to make a difference. My answer is if each one of us contributes a little something that speaks to our feelings about the state of humankind and it's surroundings, then the cumulative effect will have weight and power and even possibly create change.
a look back at
Alan E. Cober H
written by Leslie Cober-Gentry
e has been called a “pioneer of Expressionist Illustration” by Steven Heller in Innovators ofAmerican Illustration. Alan E. Cober called himself a visual journalist. He enjoyed the experience of being there to do the drawing. Cober comments, “I enjoy the electric part of it, the eye to hand to paper part of it. The expressionist part of it comes from not knowing what I am doing. It is like starting all over again each time I sit down to do a drawing, not a conscious act, like trying not to copy yourself, just forgetfulness.” Cober, a 2011 Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame recipient, has received numerous awards including Artist of the Year from Artists guild of New York: the Hamilton King Award: ten Gold and Silver medals from the Society of Illustrators; two Gold and two Silver from the Society of Publication Designers; six Gold medals from the Art Directors Club; and the Distinguished Educator in the Arts Award from the Society of Illustrators in 1998. In the years that he drew, painted, etched, and sculpted, he turned illustration from a craft to an art of independent, expressive thinking. After World War II, popular editorial art was realistic, leaving little to the imagination. Norman Rockwell was at the height of
popular illustration at that time. Rockwell, a fan of Cober’s work, shared the same walls of a New York art gallery. After viewing the entire show, Rockwell asked whether he could meet the artist. Cober took this as a compliment from Rockwell –whose work was so different from his—that Rockwell appreciated Cober’s style and journalistic views. When Cober began his career in the 1960’s, illustration was beginning to change. He set a goal to address political and social issues, as he viewed actual events. Cober was part of a small group of contemporary illustrators who believed that narrative art could influence and inform public opinion. The works of Ben Shahn, George Grosz, and Albrecht Durer, some of Cober’s biggest influences, were collected and hung in his home. In the 1960’s, it was unheard of for illustrators to present their own ideas to the art director to exercise their own point of view. A few progressive art directors opened their pages to work that complemented the editorial comment. Alan Cober traveled the country visiting the national parks of the United States for a series of posters he was creating for the National Parks Service. He was commissioned to complete several illustrations of Mount Rushmore; Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello; the Battle of Gettysburg; and Colonial Williamsburg. Cober, along with his family, traveled to view sights that were relevant to his commissions. Every family vacation was a mix of work and vacation. “I particularly remember heading to Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota. My father would regularly take out his sketchbook on every trip we made in order to record the sights we were observing. He had hundreds of sketchbooks stored across the shelves of his studio, each one filled with adventures, vacations, people and animals from different parts of the world. As a family we were used to waiting at least an hour at a time for him to complete a drawing.” Unlike a tourist who would take out a camera or diary to document an event, Cober would document the event by drawing in his sketchbook. On each drawing Cober would document his journalistic views and personal feelings that he was experiencing at the given moment. “The experience of traveling to Mount Rushmore had always stood out in my mind—I was four years old and was just realizing the power of a drawing and an audience.” Cober would take out his sketchbook, along with a small 5 x 7-inch flask, a Winsor Newton watercolor set, India ink, a #102 crow quill dip pen, a silver flask in which he carried his water, and a folding chair. He carried these in an army-green bag, which in the ‘60’s was unheard of for a man to wear on his shoulder. He would sit and draw for hours, using this traveling studio. Large crowds would always be drawn to him; they
wanted to observe what the artist was working on. Alan E. Cober loved to not only draw the people, but he also The travels took his family to places where they had press or VIP passes to go behind the scene backstage. Later traveling to Mr. Vernon, George Washington’s home, where Cober was creating drawings for a mural commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., for George Washinton’s 250 th birthday celebration in 1982. The summers were spent in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by the beach. Cober would work on freelance assignments frequently during the day. Long walks on the beach were an excuse to find interesting objects to draw in his sketchbook, whether it was a part of a crab shell, which he would turn into a drawing in his sketchbook titled “Conversation For One,” or a decaying dead bird that he would collect and sit down and draw. Cober was compulsive about drawing from nature and capturing its beauty and grit in his sketchbooks. He was a fanatic about keeping journals—hundreds of them. Alan E. Cober’s presence was as powerful as his art. Drawing, to Cober, was the key to everything. The only way to learn was to do it constantly, every day, all day. His own sketchbooks line the bookshelves of his studio. The drawings date back to the early 1960’s and continue to the day his died, January 17, 1998. Cober collected blank books to use as sketchbooks at every location he visited. On a combination family and
business trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, in the 1970’s, he commissioned a bookmaker Alan E. Cober often had a passion to create several illustrations on an interesting or compelling subject, and he never shied away from pursuing his goal. When he decided to create a series of drawings on the circus, he called Kenneth Feld, the owner of the Barnum and Bailey Circus, directly, Feld was happy to provide him with the credentials he needed to spend several days backstage. A trip to the circus with Cober was unlike any other. The circus had come to New York City’s Madison Square Garden. We would enter backstage and stay for hours while he sketched the various characters and performances. He would become friends with many of the performers while they spent long amounts of time posing between their performances. Lou Jacobs, the 6’ 1” legend of clowns, was a favorite model of Cober’s. Other famous performerswho were happy to model for him were Mishu, the “smallest man on earth’, Philippe Petit, the famous high-wire artist who later gained fame for his highwire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974; the lion tamer Gunther Gebel-Williams; and any other person or animal that was interesting to him. He drew their living conditions in their trailers and their families and pets, reaching into a culture unknown to the audience who was viewing it from the bleachers.
Clowns would come to our home and stay for days frequently dressing us up in clown makeup. Cober felt an obligation to document how different people lived and survived in their daily lives. These drawings would later be exhibited at the Terry Dintenfass Gallery in the early ‘70’s. The performers and clowns appeared on opening night standing in front of the drawings. Cober’s desire to inform the public of the hidden treatment of our elderly, prisons, and institutionalized, was rooted in his childhood years. His father, Sol Walter, a criminal lawyer for forty-eight years, brought Cober to “The Tombs” prison to meet with his clients each Sunday before they would go off to a museum for the day. As a young boy, he closely observed his father’s work, absorbing his visions of courtrooms, police work, and the incarcerated. His mother, Molly was president of the Sarah Starkman League for Retarded Children. As a teenager, Cober would frequently visit with his mother to volunteer to care for many of these children. He often visited his elderly relatives residing in nursing homes. He enjoyed drawing the residents of the home close up, as well as listening to the stories that hey told him—frequently jotting down their stories onto his paper. He would lovingly draw and surround people with their favorite sayings, songs, and comments. He thought of them as beautiful people, with wonderful stories, which he could
pass onto others. Cober’s aim as a ‘visual journalist’ was to a be a force for change by graphically exposing the realities of our times. Cober’s most compelling and emotional visual essays can be viewed in The Forgotten Society, dedicated to his father Sol Walter Cohen. A book filled with ninety-two compassionate images of the institutionalized, the prison population, and the elderly. The book opens with an age of “Tommy.” Cober writes in the bottom right corner of the drawing: “This is one of those drawings that come to life. I love that it's the old man in it. It is he. It is when I draw that no one draws better.” He then writes with his crow quill dip pen about Tommy’s life. Tommy came to an America from Sicily, Italy, in 1894 and married in 1914. Cober writes about his own experience with Tommy and signs the drawing “08 Feb 1973.” He not only draws Tommy on paper, but he also captures his personality in writing. When the reader experiences the drawing, he or she sees Tommy as an endearing human, with a wonderful story, who comes to life. After Tommy passed away in 1974, Cober’s compulsion to finish the story continued in his studio’s leather-bound version: “Tommy died in November 1974, 2 months before this book was published. He was old but vital—I had taped him singing the week before. He was a poor old man, and this might have been the highlight of a long life—The New York Times printed his drawing in the Sunday magazine and it is in the Illustration 17
It is ironic. He was an inventor and a barber.” The commentary was typical of Cober’s work. The viewer is now drawn into Tommy’s Life, and the picture becomes unforgettable. What at first, we see an empty old man, we now view him through Cober’s eyes with sympathy and compassion. Cober’s many achievements as an artist led to journalistic commissions from such publications as Life, Look, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Newsweek, Science Digest, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and several cover commissions for Time magazine. His corporate clients included Exxon, CBS, American Airlines, IBM, General Electric, ITT, and Texaco. His one man shows included the Society of Illustrators, New York City; the Katonah Gallery; the Albrecht Museum; Utah State University, Brigham Young University; John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art; Art Center College of Design; Georgia Museum; Burchfield Art Center; the Art Institute of Boston; and two shows at the Terry Dintenfass Gallery in New York City. His group shows included the Brooklyn museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and the New York Historical Society. His work is represented in the permanent collection of the Minnesota Museum of Art, the New Britain Museum, the Albrecht Museum; Utah State University, Brigham Young University; John and Mabel Ringling Museum
of Art; Art Center College of Design; Georgia Museum; Burchfield Art Center; the Art Institute of Boston; and two shows at the Terry Dintenfass Gallery in New York City. His group shows included the Brooklyn museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and the New York Historical Society. His work is represented in the permanent collection of the Minnesota Museum of Art, the New Britain Museum, the Albrecht Museum, the Philadelphia Free Library, the Library of Congress, NASA, and the National Air and Space Museum. In 1987, Cober became Professor of Art and Distinguished Visiting Artist at the University of Buffalo, State University of New York. There he taught advance illustration and thematic drawing until his death in 1998. Cober passed on his wisdom to the next generation of illustrators, commenting, “I have always stressed to my students that they must take chances in order to grow. There is no shortcut, only hard work. Look around you, not just at the fads of today, but also at the history of art, the past and present. Look at film, go to the theater, read, go to concerts, travel, anything to help you grow because all of this ends up on your sheet of paper or canvas. It is your personality, your style. It is you.” - Leslie Cober-Gentry
JOHN V AN HAMERSVELD From Endless Summer to Infinite Possibilities by Laurence Cohen
The “Endless Summer”is a seminal 1966 surf movie. Filmmaker/narrator Bruce Brown follows two surfers, Mike Hynson and Robert August, on a surfing trip around the world. They’re travels to surf spots around the globe blew my teenage mind. As a local LA surfer, it was inspiring and energizing. The artwork for the film’s poster was designed by a young artist, John Van Hamersveld. For many of my friends it was the icon of what it meant to be a serious surfer. We always carried our boards just like Mike and Robert after that! Now 52 years later that same artwork has become a powerful and ageless symbol of what it truly means to be one with the ocean. I want to thank my friend Laurence Cohen for bringing you, the reader this story about one of the most famous artist of his generation. - editor John Van Hamersveld is an American artist, designer, photographer, professor and author. Growing up in the So Cal surf scene, hippie counterculture and the rock n’ roll world, his impressive body of work reflects all those influences. Now six decades into his career, John Van Hamersveld was asked how he will best be remembered. His two-word response: “Endless Summer.” Created when John was barely in his 20’s, the iconic image of silhouetted surfers walking into a day glow sunset transcends time. Though he was originally paid only $150
for the art, he has negotiated rights in recent years to license the image to more than 300 entities worldwide. It is also featured in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. California Governor Jerry Brown recently declared surfing as the state’s official sport and the Endless Summer image as now available as a license plate. In these and so many more ways, 2018 is the year of John Van Hamersveld. To characterize him as a quintessential California artist is equal parts accurate and dismissive. Given his extensive arts education at Chouinard Art Institute, Art Center College of Design and California Institute of the Arts, he cites Bauhaus, Beaux Arts and Japanese Edo Woodblock works as influences. The time he spent surfing in his formative years also proved to be a formidable influence. At age 21, he landed a job as art director for Surfer magazine. He divided his time between the ocean, the magazine and an art studio in Dana Point. With the “Endless Summer” success, his design sensibilities soon presented him with attractive opportunities with Quicksilver and OP, “the” name brands in surf wear.
downtown Las Vegas entertainment district. He marks the ark of his career in decades. With the creation of large scale murals starting in 2010, he is enjoying the most prolific period of his career. Among the 18 murals he has created are commissions for a downtown L.A. shopping center, a surf museum and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro designed by the legendary Frank Gehry. An exhibition of his recent forays into murals took place at Keller Art Gallery in San Diego. In 2017/2018, he took on the challenge to create a massive mural transforming a defunct water storage tank into a colorful work of art and an overview of his career. Commissioned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to create a work of art that is 510 feet in circumference! JVH toured the site in a DWP helicopter to get a sense of the job at hand. To tackle the scale of the formidable challenge, he broke it down into 51 visually
Easily moving from art to fashion, he became the creative director of “L.A. Style,” to oversee the revamping of the popular magazine. Early on, he recognized the power of being an entrepreneur and embracing the business side of being an artist. To that end, he went on to book concerts and create posters for Pinnacle events at the Shrine in Los Angeles. His work captured the attention of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and he went to design the covers for “Exile on Main Street” and “Magical Mystery Tour.” Though he never did meet with the Beatles regarding the cover design, he did connect with Mick Jagger on several occasions to garner his input. With characteristic candor, he said he prefers meeting with the business interests on any given project. “They are the ultimate decision makers.” He is one of the rare artists who is equally adept at business. As a result, he has enjoyed a successful career in multiple venues that reflect his ability to adapt and adjust while staying authentic as an artist. A case in point, he was commissioned in 2009 by the Fremont Street Experience to create a four-minute animation of his images set to music displayed on a three block-long canopy spanning the popular
striking panels ten feet wide and 32 feet tall. Central to the theme of the mural are 15 bright, bold waves and symbols and images reflecting his life experiences and pop culture. Included in the work are personal touches as the VW bug he drove along the coast to El Segundo High and aviation imagery paying homage to his father’s 50-year career in aerospace.
John Van Hamersveld was asked how he will best be remembered. His twoword response: “Endless Summer.”
John is well-aware of the ephemeral nature of outdoor murals. His mural for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles is long gone. With his latest murals, he creates the artwork which is then fabricated and installed by Spin Imaging using colors guaranteed by 3-M for ten years. It is this marriage of art and technology that is at the heart of his creative pursuits His design sensibilities continue to be on full view in a limited-edition shoe and t-shirt for Vans, skateboard planks and a Malibu tour boat. He also designs surfboards that command five figure bids at charity auctions for a variety of good causes including skin cancer research, Operation Surf Memorial Care Rotary Club Charity Foundation and Moores Cancer Center. He works seven days a week. His studio overflows with works in progress. On the surface, it looks like a mess which in many ways reflects the chaos inherent
in the creative process. In contrast, his work itself is exacting and precise. He draws with his left hand and refines the images with a mouse in his right hand on computer. When asked if he creates from inspiration or discipline, his one-word answer is telling: “Irony,” which the dictionary defines as “happening in the opposite way of what is expected.” It is this element of surprise that has fostered his career and has presented him with unimaginable options. In looking forward, his relaxed “we’ll see” attitude leaves him open to a world of possibility. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see airplanes and flying cars featuring John’s colorful designs in the near future.
DAVE
Hobrecht
When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? I grew up drawing. I was a bit of an over energized kid. A pencil and paper was the only way my mom got some rest during the day! It’s just something I did ever since I can remember. My parents were very encouraging. My mom would take me to the art supply store anytime I wanted and I could buy anything. She wasn’t that way about everything……I asked and never got a set of Drums!!! Ha! …….but art supplies…..I could have anything. On the other hand when I decided I wanted to be an artist full time…..I had a lot less encouragement and tons of people advising me to not go in to the art world. I went to USC and majored in Business. After school I was supposed to work for my parents company. Although I loved the Automotive industry..it just wasn’t me. So with no experience and a wife and three kids…..I quit my job and went into art…100%!!! Like I said most thought I was crazy… expect my Mom and Dad…they said to go for it. My Mom told me it was what I was meant to do!
What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I was a pretty good kid. Growing up all I wanted was baseball cards an art supplies when I was really young. When I go into late elementary and junior high…it switched to surf, baseball and art… studying wasn’t one of my hobbies!! Sports was an influence on me at a very young age. I loved the team aspect. Hanging with your friends…playing all sorts of sports and games. I had an incredible group of friends…so we were outside from morning until the street lights came on and we had to be home! It was non-stop. Huntington Beach was an outstanding place to grow up…tons of things to do… and everything was a quick bike ride away.
Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you? I didn’t go to art school…..so all my training came from trial and error. I swear…I learned so much at my local art supply store. I would hang there and just ask the staff what they used…why and what went with what. I found myself mixing all sorts of items to find my style. My first painting of a wave was done in Charcoal, Pastel, Acrylic, oil pastel, gouache, even some white out! I was just throwing things on a canvas to see what worked. Eventually….I found I loved the feel of charcoal …..but didn’t love the sandy final look. That’s when I started using a lot of charcoal and brick pastels mixed together. I started grinding them up in to dust form….mixing them together and creating a great combo that allowed me to blend and fade nicely. It was a nice was to get soft blends that could be textured later. That’s the basics on how my style and technique came in to play!
Your work is mainly sports art. How did that happen? I love sports…the competitiveness, the social aspect, the speed and action. I just love it. Before I was producing art as a job and for others….I was just painting for me!! So why not paint what you love…what you would hang in your own house!! That’s what I did. When I decided to paint for a living…..painting what you truly love helps sell it. When an artist is into his work….it makes it easy to talk with clients that have similar interests! Talking with sports fans is easy…and fun for me. It also makes it easy to show my work within
the sports industry. Think about it….how could I sell a painting of landscapes or topics that have no influence on me…..it would be difficult. It wouldn’t be honest…
Has the advent of the computer affected your work? Do you work traditionally and digitally? It helps…..but only for research or reference. I try to stay old school. I start by making my own canvases. Right now I’m into painting on hot pressed watercolor paper. So I start by gluing the paper to smooth wood. I do zero of my art digitally….and never will. I like process of producing art with my hands. It’s like asking a woodworker to make a chair with a 3D printer…no thanks!
(continued) On the print production side….I love the advancements. I print all my own work and love my Epson! ……but when it comes to originals…..I will stay traditional. I’m fascinated by the size of your art. Why do you work so large and why in black and white?. My newest piece I just completed the other day is for a series on the Dodgers. It’s a real exciting program I have put together. The first painting was 4 feet x 8 feet! The smallest in the 12 piece series will be 42”x 65”!!! I love painting large. With my application method….it is difficult to paint small and get the details I want. I just don’t think my smaller pieces come out as well!??...just my opinion. Regarding the B&W…..I love the look. It works for my subjects. For example….if I painting Derek Jeter and Babe Ruth together in black and white….they match! It feels right….even though Babe is 79 years older than Derek!!
You and I are big sports fans, is there any sport in particular you like best? What’s the most challenging sports to depict? Baseball is my all time favorite. It also the easiest to paint! I love to surf…and I enjoy painting it...but painting realistic water is so difficult and seriously drives me nuts. It never feels finished and I can always see mistakes and blems. No one else can…..but I can. Lately I have been painting a lot of Golf with Travis Mathew and am enjoying it. They are a great company and its been helping me sharpen my background and landscape abilities. At one point I read you started illustrating from baseball cards after an injury? What motivated that and why? My love for the game. I had more baseball cards than a kid would know what to do with. I would organize them, stack them, trade and look at them all the time. I grew up playing and loving baseball….so they were my early subjects!
I’m curious about how you choose what to work on. What’s does your process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step? For a while I was choosing projects to help me diversify my offering. I had a ton of the major sports... but began picking up work for fishing, rock climbing, running, snowboarding, etc. I wanted to have something for most sports fans. Lately I have been blessed with dream job projects!!! ….so baseball is back at the front on the painting line and will be on the easel for some time now. Each piece takes me from 20-150 hours plus…..all depends on size a background details. I work seven days week and pretty long hours…so I can fit a decent amount of work in per month. Once I start…I cant stop. It’s like reading a good book or binge TV watching. Once I start a piece I go hard until it’s finished. Then I will take a good break. I won't start
another painting for a few days. I use that time thinking of ideas, working with clients…etc. My wife describes my process like this...and its pretty accurate.
Crista Cloutier
the artist 's
master class WITH STYLE
I first notice Crista online. I found her intriquing. Here was this attractive woman selling her knowledge about the art world for what I consider a bargain. I was curious to make contact and see what she's all about. Whether she would be someone that you the reader would want to know. Surely if I was interested you would be too. We connected by email several times before I could set up a phone conversation. Crista was in France and London, teaching, writing and photographing. We talked for about 40 minutes and I found her to be open, refreshing and serious about helping artists find their way towards being a success in whatever way they wanted to be. I was hooked and I am currently takingher Master Class. This interview is the first of a two-part series with her.
An Interview with Lon Levin Arists are typically not very good at promoting themselves and getting work. Now, you're offering them a way to do that. Yes. Over the years that I've been selling, a lot of artists asked me if I'd represent them, and took it personally when I couldn't. They didn't understand everyone who sells art has their own mission and their own set of clients. I was specializing in politicalart. It was hard for me because I had to say no and would try to expain why. But when artists hear "no" they hear "not enough", "not good enough", "not enough experience". They never really understand it's not
It made me feel bad because there were a lot of artists I wanted to support, but I absolutely couldn't help everyone. I was helping hundreds of artists already. So what did you do? I started the Working Artist, and I really did it with an open heart. It gave me such joy because I wanted to support the creative impulse. I don't care if an artist is just starting out and painting kittens or an artist is museum quality and at the top of their game, I give them both the same amount of myself. It's up to the market to decide who's in and who's out. I don't want to be in that position. What I'm doing is offering the artist tools of what they can do.
(continued)
How effective is that for the artists you work with? Well, the Master Class is an 8-week course, so that has a beginning and an end. I offer coaching calls and I continue to support my alumni with calls after they take the course. If an artist wants to work one on one with me we can take it further. We really get into their work and strategize their own way forward. I get a lot of stories from artists who work with me. I got one story from a girl in Thailand...I swear to God she said she was working in a rice paddy and she was an artist, but there were no venues to sell her art. She thought she wanted to sell online...should she take the class? She wasn't sure
the class could help someone like her, so I encouraged her to take it. Now she recently wote to me from a five star hotel and said "I'm writing from a five star hotel because I'm not working in the rice paddy anymore. I'm an artist. That must be very gratifying to know you've helped someone realize a dream? Yeah, it is. A homeless artist I met when I was living in England and gifted the class to him writes to me now every few months. He's not homeless anymore. He's become the leader of his arts community. He's doing so well, I'm really proud of him. The next time I ran the course he enrolled without telling me and paid for it. I didn't expect that. It was great...really rewarding.
I've always heard, since my school days at Art Center, you have to have a style to succeed as an illustrator. Do you think that's true? Is it a problem or an asset to work in various styles? I think it's important to choose one, maybe it's one idea, a branding idea so that an artist is focused to build something. So you're not going in circles, doing a little bit here and a little bit there. If you do that nobody knows who you are and what you do. It should be something that you're learning, growing and going deep on. It gives people a way to get into your work, you know..."Oh that's the artist who...". People like that. Are you doing artwork yourself or are you writing? I'm a visual storyteller as an artist, so I take pictures and I write stories about my life, my travels, art and other artists. I usually use my personal Facebook page to show those things. Also I consider my blog creative. In addition, I'm working on a book right now which features my writing and photographs about being an artist. What would your stories be about? This book is called,...or the working title is "First To Jump: Building a Working Artist's Practice". It deals with different steps in a practice like; Inventory of your work, your ssets, your skills. It means taking
stock of your experiences and creating a CV. I write in short "blog-size" essays that are on different topics of interest and inspiration. It's about owning your own experiences and leveraging your assets and who you are. I tell success stories of other artists as well as tales of caution. It's kind of a mĂŠlange of that.
I was living in England, I couldn't get a job to save my life! I didn't have a work permit and I was really at the bottom. It was during that horrible recession and I was going to lose my house in the United States. So I was talking to a friend of mine and he said why don't you teach artists how to sell art. I said everyone knows how to sell art. He said they don't. I then said I don't have anything to say. He replied I bet you do. What was so funny was I sold everything I owned and came to Europe a few years before. However, I still had my computer so I started to look at files I might have kept from my life as an art dealer and I found a twenty-five page proposal for a book that was basically The Working Artist. I had already tried to write and publish a book on the subject! I also had a letter from my agent who said there are not enough artists in the world who would be interested in a book like this, so give it up. Determined, I put together a nine week syllabus for a course that I took to the local university and they were really interested in it. Unfotunately what I was doing as an art dealer was a fulltime job. I was working fifity to sixty hours a week and I had this desire to teach
Were you always a positive person or was that a transformation for you?
I grew up in a very negative household. Pretty heavy darkness in my life. But, I was recently talking to a former boyfriend of mine when I was in my twenties, which I considered the epitome of my darkness., where all my childhood stuff played itself out. He remembered me as being very positive, inspirational and very encouraging. He said I haven't changed which completly surprised me. The negative people around us hold up a mirror to us and we tend to buy that. But it's not true.
Did you let your life follow it's own path or did you set goals and steer towards them? I think it's a little of both. Once I had the idea of the working artist in my head, I ran with it. It was a huge endeavor that took all of my willpower to pull it together... and other times you just have to trust and go for it and follow. How long ago do you start putting the Working Artist together? I think about eight years ago when I started to teach a workshop called The Working Artist.I had no money, I was
A guy wrote me one of those fuck you emails, where I wanted to say fuck you back. I responded instead "Hey it sounds like you're having a really crappy day, and since I got your email I'm having a crappy day too. So, why don't you tell me what's going on and let's see if I can help you and turn both of our days around."
this stuff, but I couldn't make it work. I ended up putting it into the bowels of my computer hard drive and completely forgot about it until someone said why don't you teach a workshop. So, there it was already done for me. I put it together into a format I thought I could teach in a day. I started networking, knocking on gallery doors asking if I could host an artist's workshop in their space. Then I started to get invited to universities, traveling around England, France, America, Italy and South Africa. It just kinda took off, it was rewarding and I had incredible feedback from my students. But, it was really hard for me to make a living because I didn't want to charge to that much money and to travel around and handout workbooks...it was too difficult. I then started to think about bringing the course online. I could move at a slower pace and build on it, charge less money and win. Do you find that people respond to you based on what you've done for the artist community? Oh yes, absolutely! I get emails that take my breath away from strangers all over the world. I meet people on the streets...it's bizarre how the internet has made the world so small, and how the kind of work I do just makes people feel like they know me. I also get the negative. I get a lot of people who don't feel hesitant to tell me they don't like me...they think I'm ripping artists off making money off their backs. I've been told I should give the classaway for free and sometimes they just get crude...I get emails that just say fuck you. It used to really really bring me down...it almost destroyed me to be honest because it's my art out there. What I'm doing is my art, my creativity. I had a hard time with it for a really long time. And then recently I found the perfect response...which was to turn it around.
What advice would you give artists, either working artists or student just starting their careers? Take the business part seriously. Don't wait. Because you'll have to go back and backtrack to create an inventory system and start trying to catch up on your CV because you didn't put things down from the beginning and plan to succeed. That's my advice. Final questions. You're living in France in Provence in a tiny unamed village. How did that come about? You know about twenty years ago I came to this tiny village, and there's a small art school here for American students. I came here and I had the idea that I wanted to see the world. But from the moment I came here I didn't want to go anywhere else. So whenever I had any money or vacation time I would try to come here for a week or sometimes a few days at a time. So slowly over the years I put down roots. Editor Notes: Recently I took Crista's course and I found it to be organized, inspiring and instructive. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to be a professional artist whether they are starting out or like me transitioning from commercial art to fine art.
POPP WENDY
Interview by Lon Levin
PART ONE
Wendy is an artist who’s works have appeared in many publications and have graced the covers and the interiors of books, periodicals, and newspapers since 1981. Publishers include; The New York Times, Harper Collins, Random/Doubleday/Dell, Penguin/ Putnam, Scholastic Books, and Time/Life Publications, among others. Critics’ selections have included her illustration and advocacy in The New York Times, U.S.A. Today, The Seattle News, The Miami Herald, among others. Her awards and honors are numerous, among them; The Dean Cornwall Recognition Award from The Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration, The Distinguished Educator of The Year Award from The New School University, and The Washington Irving’s Children’s Choice Honor. Her work continues to be displayed in solo and traveling group exhibitions nationally. She has been an educator for 25 years for Parsons The New School for Design, and Pratt Institute.
She is also currently mentoring in the Illustration Masters Program of The Fashion Institute of Technology. Her work is held in private collections, as well as the permanent collections of The Society of Illustrators Museum of American lllustration and The Norman Rockwell Museum. Center for New York City. When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? Drawing is language to me. It was a way to speak when I found it difficult to be vocal enough to tell a story. Crayon to conte - there has been little variation since. I have always been fluent. It is an intuitive expression, so I never gave the process much thought until I was in my teens. Innately, I have always recognized my observation abilities as strength. It provided practical solutions for a number of issues I experienced growing up. I come from a good working-class family and in our early years, our means
"One influence was living
near a wooded area where my friends and I could play “Army� and swing on vines."
were humble. It was understood that I should work with my strengths if I were to make something of myself when resources were scarce. I discovered that I could move people by drawing or painting. I could speak with images in a culture where children and women particularly were often expected to be seen, not heard. It was a form of social currency. It was often celebrated as a "gift" in my Roman Catholic tribe. It seemed to bring my family joy and was often a source of their pride -although at times it stirred things up in unpredictable ways. I remember coming home from a Saturday drawing class at MICA at the age of 16 with nude figure drawings of
myself, (a homework assignment that was critiqued in class). I was the youngest in a class of adults by about a decade and the teacher was merciless. I was disturbed by his critique and sought some understanding about the craft and content of what I'd done by sharing them with a small group of family and friends. When I spread the drawings on the floor, I was not prepared for the fault lines of public opinion that would be exposed. The men in my family were angry and appalled, not by the critique,
but by the idea that I was represented in these drawings and bare-breasted. My mother and a female family friend argued in defense of the lessons in figure drawing as important to the art process and saw necessity and beauty in the drawings themselves. The argument escalated and from my perspective, eventually, became darkly humorous. This was a very simple portrait! It became so dangerous! My modestly positioned figure, (a very basic line drawing exploring cross contour) elicited such passionate emotions and spawned such profoundly divergent arguments on venial sin and feminism. I never considered myself a provocateur. I had unwittingly crossed some line of convention. Initially, I felt all sorts of things that you feel when you “fall from grace�; shame, guilt, inadequacy, but by the end of the discussion, the intention in the art prevailed, that all gave way to a sense of courage and conviction. I would ruminate on this and it would not be until much later that I would understand that the discussion revealed much more about context and personal frames of reference, in a time when cultural norms were being challenged. That afternoon it was about the powerful effect of a drawing and for me it was revelatory. It was a game changer.
The prep school I attended encouraged my talents while I was in their ranks, in fact, my partial scholarship there was based on eight former years of grades improved largely by the fact that I illustrated everything I wrote or presented. I was the kid on the periphery, who was the promotion department for the athletic associations and yearbooks, fashioned many bulletin boards, designed and painted props and backdrops for plays. However, when it came to counseling me for college, art was highly discouraged. Service was prized and professional careers in white or pink-collar categories were encouraged. Undeterred, I was the first in three generations of my family to think about attending college and Pratt Institute was the only place that I applied. Despite reservation, my parents agreed to help finance my schooling, with great sacrifice, when I was accepted. Pratt was generous and my department awarded me various scholarships provided by Time/Life, which were helpful and affirming. An eventual job at the United Nations ensured that I could pay my rent, living expenses, and art supplies.
What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I was actually born in Denver, Colorado when my father was in the Air Force. My parents returned to the East Coast where their families lived. I was raised in the fold of a very large Italian family that immigrated to Little Italy and Highlandtown, in Baltimore Md. around 1913. On both sides we had families of 8 or so...so there were scores of cousins, Aunts, and Uncles. All were very supportive and loving. I was the first grandchild on both sides. With that comes a kind of exceptional and unconditional love that had been a grounding factor in my life. They all had a great work ethic that I believe rubbed off on me. The generosity in their cooking gave me lessons in how to put an effort out there to share and create the best experience possible. I watched these Italian women and I learned how they made beauty out of the gravity of their lives, through food, ornamentation and through the holiday ceremony; the more painful, the more exquisite it seemed. From the age of 4, a great deal of my time was occupied with an early modeling career for runway and print. My parents pursued this for me. Perfection and excellence were expected and it was rough trying to achieve an impossible standard. I never felt very comfortable in the role. I admit to this only because I do feel that the training contributed to my work ethic and self- confidence, particularly, "game face" which has helped me rise to challenging social occasions, lecturing and even my career in education. As with most artists, I have introverted tendencies. I have the dubious distinction of being Little Miss Maryland 1965. I competed in an international contest at the age of six and ended my career at the age of 12, much to the disappointment of my parents. I did not much enjoy being in the spotlight, being handled and was not drawn to the artifice of it. I much preferred the proxy of a drawn image to express myself. In hindsight, clearly, that was the best choice! When I think back I do remember odd preoccupations. I would train endlessly, walking the runway often by myself, practicing, alone, with a book balanced on my head and my hands just so...and would amuse myself. Influences. In 1963 I was quite young but remember a palpable shift in our lives when President Kennedy was assassinated. If we are watching the reels of the Popp family 16 mm film from that year, one begins with silent amber hued Kodachrome images of my brother and me in the fall. This ends abruptly with a segment of stark black and white images showing scores of uniformed
men in procession. White horses lead a casket wrapped in an American flag on a funeral carriage. This segment interrupts for quite a while and then as abruptly the color of a small family Christmas morning resumes. "You are as old as John John", my mother would mention to me while we paged through photo essays in Time magazine through that winter. Those essays loomed large in my imagination. I am certain that this memory is influenced by that film, but I distinctly recall when I authentically began thinking critically about the world outside our bubble. It was during the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. Those events and the riots that would follow embedded the mission of the civil rights movement and service in my mind. Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you? The majority of my work is the result of someone who wants desperately to be ferocious about the subject matter but cannot bring herself to make marks that match the fury. So, the content is always sober or traumatic but the imagery always comes out deceptively soft with a palpable emotional undercurrent. It can't be helped.
I trained in academic settings where we drew with pressed charcoal and conte. I did not have the money or time for oil and canvas. I traded experimentation for the faith I had in the ability I acquired in reductive drawing with dust essentially. Creating light from dark is, again, an intuitive thing and chiaroscuro has appealed to me even before I saw Caravaggio and Steichen for the first time. I love the ceremony of creating an atmosphere with pastel dust and then pulling an image out of obscurity. I spent a retreat in a Buddhist Monastery in the Catskill Mountains, learning from the writings of John Daido Lori, learning to sit Zazen and exploring the link between spirituality and creativity. I was looking for a way to enhance my art with more spontaneity and well, peace. There, I actually studied Kyudo, inspired by Zen and The Art of Archery, a book that I often use in my teachings. Shifting the aim, so to speak. I do love the ceremony of sharpening my pencil for detail, sanding clouds of dust that create an ethereal quality. There is a conscious act of graphic disclosure. It can be arduous, but it works for me. When I graduated from Pratt, art directors seemed to appreciate my drafting skills but did not initially hire me in the age where covers needed saturated color to leap from the shelves. So I went to pastel because it behaved with a familiarly akin to conte and I invited color into it the way one would color a black and white photograph. That is all I knew about color application; Photo 101 at Pratt. I would develop a monochromatic image and then layer color on top... it was safe... anywhere along the process at the very least, there would be a fully developed comprehensive image. I taught myself how to do this by studying Dutch oil painting techniques, particularly Vermeer. What tools do you use when you’re painting? And why?
I "paint" essentially with pastel dust, using Rembrandt dry pastels grated on sandpaper and dusted onto Canson pastel paper. I draw into it with Carbothello pastel pencil. I use a reduction technique, wiping away with a kneaded eraser to create light on the page. Using very little pigment that way, my pastels last for years. It is very economical and creates a painterly effect that seemed to be the criteria for being hired in the 80's. The only two art directors satisfied with the merely monochromatic image was Michael Mendelsohn, who hired me for a series of classics at The Franklin Library which sustained my career for a number of years and was appreciated by Jerelle Kraus.
Your children’s books are marvelous. Simple yet elegant. How did the way you approach your books come about ? For five of my books, I had particularly generous art directors who were willing to allow the best of what I could offer- happen. I was given little guidance and was truthfully so excited to be working on substantive topics written by such great writers that I was motivated to do the best job possible. You do not get much better than Eve Bunting or Mary Beth Lorbieki. Atha Tehon was without a doubt one of the most inspired art directors around and Dial Books was a very edgy publisher for the day, taking on many taboo subject matters, giving voice to necessary issues. I was to work with her on racism with Sister Anne’s Hands. I also had the opportunity to work with the most beautiful subjects for my characters. My friends and family to this day are featured in the work that I do. I find that if I love the face I work very hard to develop it. I never really expected that these books would preserve time for me the way that they have. There is an entire classroom of children from Central School in Larchmont who enjoy looking back on their inclusion in these projects with genuine fondness. After Hurricane Sandy, my hometown shores were devastated and I produced a limited edition book called Landfall, Winter Spring and Summer. This included my photography submitted to FEMA and 30 years of small drawing and watercolors on the shores of Long Island Sound. It sold to raise significant funds for coastal repair. I love these shores and it was a bitter/sweet assignment. References for my children’s book were often studies of the landscape and environs of my home and are included. Beyond that, I understand that artists are purveyors of culture and I take that role very seriously, --particularly in the content of children’s books.
Thank you for thinking of me. Reflecting on this has been an illuminating process. In conclusion, I have learned that it is difficult to be the best judge of my art and its effect. I am relying on whatever frequency that it evokes to communicate, hoping that my intention is clear. I am humbled in retrospect by the miraculous infusions of experience, brilliant people, and opportunity that had made a creative life possible. I am hoping that there is something useful here. It is a continuous learning curve and it feels like I haven’t even begun to crest the arch. Namaste, all.
Heather
LEARY
An Interview with Lon Levin
When did you first think about what you wanted to do as an adult? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? I started thinking about what I wanted to do as an adult when I was quite young. I was so certain that I would become a Veterinarian/Dancer. It wasn’t until I was a Senior in High School I started to question my career path after seeing the film “How to Train Your Dragon,” it inspired me to start thinking about the field of animation. I was greatly encouraged by my family along with my High School art teacher Mrs. Gabriel. What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I was spunky, with a capital "S". I grew up in the town of Zillah, Wa. My influences seem to continuously come from animated films and cartoons that contained quick witted humor, superheroes, and action. Animaniacs, Darkwing Duck, and Gargoyles were my greatest influences.
You’ve just finished school and now you are in the big pond vying for jobs against seasoned pros. How do you intend to make yourself standout (other than you’re very quirky and lovable personality)? By developing my own personal stories with grand adventures, wacky characters, fantastic backgrounds, and a whole lot of hard work. Can you talk about how you got interested in animation? Besides the film “How to Train Your Dragon,” it was my multitude of sketchbooks that I would fill with my own characters, illustrations, and story ideas. I’ve always had a desire to share these stories. Animation is the perfect way to develop and share them
After seeing the film “How to Train Your Dragon,” it inspired me to start thinking about the field of animation.
Have you considered children’s books as an outlet? In 2015 I was hired to create illustrations for a children’s book created by Kristi Perry titled, “Noli’s Christmas Gift.” I enjoyed the experience and would definitely love the opportunity to work on another children’s book.
What’s does your daily process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step? Step 1. Make a delicious cup of tea Step 2. Obtain reference Step 3. Start sketching Step 4. Work on lineart Step 5. Cleanup Lineart Step 6. Finally, color my newest piece of artwork
What do or did you do to promote yourself? What exciting projects are you working on now? I network at animation events. I provide business cards to potential employers. I stay connected with my fellow artists and instructors from college. My portfolio is updated and accessible online. I am continually creating more artwork to put on my website and social media. I am working as a background artist for Lynn Terra’s project called “Andiamo.” I am also working as a storyboard artist and animator for the youtube channel, Etherealic. What is your ultimate goal or goals in life?
My ultimate goal is to create and pitch a cartoon series of my very own.
COULTER YOUNG An Interview with Lon Levin
When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? Tell me about Orange Nest. What’s it all about?? I was always drawing as a kid but did not consider art as a career option until I went to college. In high school I was on the ski team and I raced slalom. My motivation at that time was to go to college in Vermont, ski and study Recreational Management. I arrived at Green Mountain College in July to meet with the Dean of the school and take a aptitude placement test to find out my interests. I placed 95% in the arts and 5% in Management. The Dean advised me to become a Fine Arts major for the first semester and go from there. With my parents blessing that was how I was directed down the path of the arts.
What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I have been told that I was a laid back kid that you could bring anywhere. Just as long as I had a case of hot wheels with me I was good. I grew up in Mahopac, N.Y. a small town in Putnam County about an hour north of NYC. My extended family lived in Westfield N.J. were I spent time there during the holidays and my summer was spent down at the Jersey shore. My influences when I was young were 1970’s superheroes, matchbox, Hot Wheels and Kiss. Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you?
As a student of Illustration we were all encouraged to
come up with our own style to set us apart from another. I did develop a style in my early days and as I recall I wanted to incorporate the elements of water, wind and fire into my artwork. If you look at my earliest portraits you will see a lot of swirling colors and organic shapes.
What’s going on in your head when you work on a piece? Your fears, anticipation, confidence , etc. How do you know something is finished? When I work on a piece I try not to think about anything. I put on some music and get into the zone. I usually have a color scheme planned out in my head before I start painting. I will paint until I do not know what to do next. At that point I will take a break and revisit the next day. If I still do not know what to do then that is when I think I am done. You love plein air why? What Hudson Valley work do you like best and who do you look up to in that world??
You do a lot of magazine portrait work. How did that happen?
I was fortunate enough to get an agent in the mid 90’s and sign on with Wanda Novak and the Creative Illustrators agency. Wanda was very instrumental in getting me work with magazines and other work related to the music business. Has the computer affected your work? Do you work traditionally and digitally? The computer has had very little affect on how I create my work. I work traditionally and I work on a large scale. Most of my portrait paintings are at least 3” X 4” in size.
I love Plein air painting for two reasons. The first reason is that you do not need a studio. Plein air painting came into my life at a time when I did not have a studio. I liked the fact that I could paint without the burden of renting a studio and having a lot of equipment and materials. It is a very lightweight and freeing mode of creativity. You just walk out into nature with an easil and materials, find a beautiful spot to paint and paint for a few hours and then you are done. The 2nd reason I love Plein air painting is because I feel that it is the ultimate challenge to capture nature and light in a small frame of time before it changes. Sometimes you have to paint furiously to capture the colors of a sunset before they disappear. I find that invigorating. The artist that I most admire from the Hudson River school is Frederick Church. I love his sunset paintings from Olana.
I’m curious about how you choose what to work on. I imagine your process takes a long time to finish so it’s an important decision to decide what to work on. What’s does your process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step? Outside the realm of Illustration were the subject is chosen for you I take on a different process. I am inspired by music. I will choose a musician that has a look that intrigues me and sketch them with pencil and paper for a few days. Once I have a sketch that I like I will create a large painting of the sketch and then start making decision in my head about the color scheme. Once I have that part done I will paint until the painting is done. I like to paint for about 4 or 5 hours at a time. What do you do to promote yourself and get work? I try to have at least 2 shows a year to keep my work in the public eye. Other than that I just promote my website www.coulteryoung. com What’s the future hold for you? Any ultimate goal? I am in the process of building a studio in my back yard. This will be my first official studio in 15 years. My hope is that this will be the beginning of the next chapter in my illustration and art career. If you could meet anyone in the field you’re in who would it be and why? I would like to meet Mark Ryden. I am amazed at how prolific he is and am very curious about his whole process to illustration. I was honored to be one of 2 finalists for the cover of American Illustration in 1997 and Mark understandably got the job. I have been following his career ever since in amazement. I realized as your example below that I did not have what it took to be in his league and needed to get back to the drawing board. It is a good thing to be inspired by the great illustrators that we have in our field.
I cannot end this interview without mentioning the great mentors that have influenced me and have guided me on my path. I was fortunate to study with Alan E. Cober at the University of Buffalo. It was under his tutelage that I established my foundation as an illustrator and artist. It was his passion and dedication to this art form that set me on my way and for that reason I feel blessed to be in his presence. Alan also introduced me to Philip Burke who lived in Buffalo. Philip took me under his wing for about a year and that time will always be a cherished time in my life. As an example when I came out of college I thought Mark English was amazing. I wanted to meet him and ask how he did what he did. I did meet him at the Illustrators Seminar in Tarrytown 1978. I realized I didn’t have the chops to be like him. It changed the direction of my work for the best. Thank you!
Rolled Sugar Cookies INGREDIENTS 25 ounces All Purpose Flour 1 1⁄2 teaspoon Baking Powder 1⁄2 teaspoon Salt 1 lb. cold Butter 10 1⁄2 ounces Granulated Sugar 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 2 Eggs 2 Egg Yolks DIRECTIONS Mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla extract, eggs and yolks. Mix until incorporated. Add flour, baking powder and salt until evenly mixed. POP IN THE OVEN and Yay!!
MASSEY ED
An Interview with Lon Levin
“The
pure
physicality
of
pushing
paint on canvas or mixing plaster and taking a mallet to form something had a very special quality to it.
I had
such a thorough enjoyment of the process of pushing paint, it was very freeing. ”
When did you first think about what you wanted to do as an adult? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors? I didn’t know I was going to be an artist. In college I was designing clothes and was interested in fashion. After five years designing clothing I realized the limitations fashion had on me: commerce, functionality and wearability that were set within the industry for me as the functionality of clothing was rewarded with orders. I felt that I was limited because of the practical nature of fashion – it had to be worn to be sold and be profitable.
“I had a very active
imagination and
played many hours
at a time setting up plastic toy soldier war scenarios”
(continued) And it was at the same time that I was trying to work as a painter and sculptor. I thoroughly enjoyed the creative process. I could concoct and create and it didn’t have to have any function to it nor did it have to have any particular audience as long as I felt satisfied doing the work, which I was. I loved the opportunity to let my imagination run free. The pure physicality of pushing paint on canvas or mixing plaster and taking a mallet to form something had a very special quality to it. I had such a thorough enjoyment of the process of pushing paint, it was very freeing. I began doing sculpture but never realized in my early 20s that I would actually continue on to this day. My family has always been extremely supportive of the work I do and that’s typically a rarity for a young person choosing to be a fine artist. I think most people I know and most of my friends even going to art school were persuaded not to go into the field of Fine Art. I felt that when I chose to do my graduate studies my family was extremely supportive and
encouraged me to keep striving for whatever I dreamed of doing. What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences? I grew up in Los Angeles. Both my parents came from outside of the US: My mother born and raised in a small town outside of Veracruz, Mexico; My father was born and raised outside of Paris, France. Being the youngest of three my family gave me quite a bit of latitude to do as I wished. I was a youngster when my parents divorced so my mother raised me. She served as a very strong role model for me and exposed me to many Latin American artists especially the Mexican muralist; Siqueiros, Orozco and Rivera. The colors of Mexico enchanted me; the dynamic warmth of the color palette that was chosen in the art, architecture, textile design, fashion, and Mexican culture itself. Surprisingly, I was not exposed to a great number of art museums or galleries as a youngster but much more so to large public murals on Mexico City’s buildings and university walls. As early as I can remember, I loved to create and draw with color markers. My greatest enjoyment other than playing sports, was seeing how toys were built - silkscreens, painted figurines. aesthetically pleasing vehicles and fully articulating action figures were on the top of my list. I had a very active imagination and played many hours at a time.setting up plastic toy soldier war scenarios.
You were a top Volleyball player. Did you think about the Olympics or playing in pro leagues? I grew up loving to play sports, in particular volleyball was my passion. I played as often as possible as a high school teenager and college athlete. I continued to play for a club team where I had the opportunity to play abroad. I was extremely focused on volleyball and then my interests began to change and focus more on fashion in the visual arts. You did fashion design for Team USA. How did that happen? Were you always interested in fashion? While in college I played volleyball and realized many of the athletic shorts that I would put on were too tight around my thighs and were just plain uncomfortable. So I set out to make my own shorts mostly beach style volleyball shorts. I started a small company with my sister, Lillian, and later my brother, Bernie joined us. I was designing men’s and women’s activewear and our Team USA line sold across the country and abroad from stores such as Neiman Marcus and Marshall Fields to boutique style stores such as Fred Segal and a host of many many others. I enjoyed fashion but realized that being successful in the industry meant that the clothing had to be functional, wearable and had to have certain qualities to be in the marketplace. I felt at a certain point that it was too restrictive for me. As my interest began to shift
into painting and sculpture. I only needed to please myself creatively and visually as I was not making it work for the market place. I was creating works that inspired me and that I felt an urge to make. Why Sculpture? How did it lead to Columbia and your commission from the Principle Financial Group As I departed Team USA sportswear and fashion and manufacturing of clothing I submersed myself in a studio for a year in a community studio space with approximately 20 painters and five sculptors. I thrived on making things in the round. I loved the physicality of mixing plaster, cutting wood, using tools and seeing the worksite to come to life. I especially gravitated towards figurative work and social criticism. It was an extension of my interest in the social sciences. I was still in my early 20’s (a grad student at Columbia University) when I created a work dealing with the hierarchy of corporate America. It depicted intraoffice competition, highlighting ethnic gender imbalance and wage discrepancies. I did other important projects dealing with race relations and crime and punishment. The corporate ladder sculpture, however was my largest physical sculpture at that time - measuring 20 ft in height. Once it was completed it became an extremely controversial piece of public art in this country. It got major media coverage and ultimately had to be taken down.
From there your work seems to get more socially conscious, how did that happen and why? From the onset the majority, if not all my work dealt with social issues - social criticism. I felt as a student in the field of sociology I could portray my messaging points much more forcefully through the visual arts then with a pen. The visual impact of my work on viewers was critically important. I knew that many people may flip the page of a newspaper or magazine or click the channel of a TV set if the subject matter was not of interest to them. But with a piece of art that was put up in front of a high-profile public setting, the viewer would have no choice but to see and study the work. My hope is that they will contemplate it and discuss the subject at hand. This observation could lead to profound and passionate commentary by the general public and by many who may not frequent a museum or gallery. One of the most important aspects and interesting parts of my work is that everyone; men, woman and children - have the experience of seeing important artwork that has a unique message. The appeal to me is to make the art accessible to all - 24 hours a day and at no cost to anyone.
“I loved the physicality of mixing plaster, cutting wood, using tools and seeing the worksite to come to life.”
Explain a little about the oil derrick art event at Beverly Hills High School? In 1995 after completing the Mortality exhibition on rape and completing my first children’s picture book, Milton, I was invited to read at bookstores, schools, and at pediatric care units. To make a long story short, I witnessed children in the pediatric care unit playrooms drawing and painting on paper, the same as any school kid in a regular classroom. Around the same time I had seen the oil tower situated near Beverly Hills High School begin to fall apart. Millions of cars passed the tower on Olympic Boulevard annually and it was badly in need of a facelift. I’d studied the tower and came to the realization that the 165 foot structure could not be scaffolded and repainted. I learned from the structural engineers that the original walls of the structure were painted directly on the ground and later elevated by crane. The old tower was the only building that I knew of in a metropolitan area anywhere in the world that could be removed piece by piece. There wasn’t any concrete, wood, steel, or windows to deal with...the pliable, removable walls could be brought down to ground level. It dawned on me that the children at the pediatric care units could paint them and then later the parts could be brought up by to the structure’s heights and installed panel by panel. That is how the concept came for “Portraits of Hope”. The idea
was to include thousands of children throughout the state of California. The concentration was predominately in hospital settings where the kids could not get out and paint a mural on any structure outside of their hospital environment. After the political approvals that took several years, the project was ready to go. We witnessed tremendous effort by tens of thousands of children and adults as they completed what became the “Tower of Hope” in Beverly Hills, California. The hand-painted structure measured slightly taller than the Statue of Liberty! What’s does your daily process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step? I work with my brother Bernie on the “Portraits of Hope” projects. Most of these are large scale civic and public art projects - we wear many hats. It starts with the creative development of projects, then he and I work the political process, speaking with foundations, individuals and corporations that want to partner with us. We request political approvals from elected officials to permit the unimaginable. We do not accept government funds - we depend fully on private and corporate funding to support our large scale, civic and public art projects. We’re now going on our 23rd year! I’ve learned a lot about different areas that are not in my field of of expertise. From NASA to NASCAR and nearly everything in between. It’s a privilege to work with groups that care.
What do or did you do to promote yourself and get more backing?What exciting projects are you working on now? There are always exciting projects on the horizon I’m developing a few as we speak. Currently we were just given the political approvals to transform a large section of the Los Angeles conventioncenterandaroof section measuring over 200,000 ft. I am also developing and working on a patent for a renewable energy - a public art project that I envision will look spectacular. Lastly, I am developing an artwork for the Fairfax location of Samy’s Camera. The art design will measure approximately 50ft in height and measure just over 100 feet in length and should make for an extremely vibrant addition to the Fairfax Corridor. I’m very excited to work on this project and I thoroughly enjoying working with Samy and all of the very knowledgeable folks at the store.
Illustration by Lon Levin for SINY Gallery Show "Save the Planet" Postcards
