I’m always looking for something to paint. Still life, landscape, cityscape, figure — all draw me equally, so it isn’t so much the subject I’m partial to but where the light, weight and energy falls, the mood, the color palette. If something rests in balance, or unsettles by its asymmetry, or reminds us of what we’ve forgotten, I want to paint it. Whether working from life or from a photograph, I begin with a drawing to get to know the subject before moving to the painting surface. I am always checking for basic accuracy throughout the process, but I aim to stop before the two or three strongest elements—the ones that drew me to the subject in the first place—cease to be clear and fresh.
My painting style tends toward realistic, and though I enjoy the challenge realism presents, I am reaching for a looser, more impressionistic style. Rather than provide all the answers, as ultra-realism does, I want to present the viewer with a convincing yet new experience of the subject—with less information. When I am the viewer, those are the paintings I can’t pass by.
I received several years of art training as a youth in coastal Rhode Island. After earning an MFA in 1983 it was only following a long career in design* that I returned to the easel. I’m still a relative newbie and my artistic accomplishments to date make a very short list! However, I am pleased to have pieces appearing in local juried exhibits in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Many years ago my sister and I found ourselves in the Sawtooth mountains of Idaho, when we beheld a vista so spectacular we were at a loss for words. Speaking for both of us (in her inimitable way), my sister finally blurted out "I just want to EAT it!" Since it is hard to actually eat a pile of beauty, painting is my way to satisfy that powerful urge to capture our world, beautiful or otherwise.
* I continue to design for print publication (to support my painting habit): www.joycehempsteaddesign.com