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MD: What was he like?
JW: His personality was kind, but he was absolute firmness. So I suddenly found myself in an environment where I could be an artist…where we took art seriously…I wanted to see how good I could become. In my senior year, I only needed one required course, so out of six or seven hours in the day, I took five of Mr. O’ Brien’s classes. I became sort of his assistant.
Mr. O’Brien’s emphasis is technical excellence…which leads to my current approach.
MD: What about sports?
JW: I continued playing football and basketball. I was being offered athletic scholarships and being lured by them, by all the calls and attention.
Then, one day, Mr. O’Brien sat me down in the middle of the room, more serious than I had ever seen him. He said, “Don’t you dare turn your f------ back on art!”
I am the kind of person who can focus on one thing. So, I turned my back on the athletic scholarships.
MD: How did your parents respond?
JW: Art was regarded as flimsy. My Dad saw it more in black and white. My Dad set the tone in the family, while Mom got things done. She supported whatever I wanted to do. There was someone in the family who understood art: my Dad’s brother was a farmer and a schoolteacher who loved art.
MD: So, in college, what happened?
JW: I have a Graphic Design degree from Southern Illinois University. It was the last generation pre – computers, so I received traditional, old - school training. I think ideas can get lost by going to the computer instead of starting with the messy, creative process by hand.
I started painting seriously, but as a hobby. I have no training in painting. I am self –taught. My painting is traditional, oil painting.
I’ve never liked the bounce of stretched canvas and I began making my structured surfaces from ¼ “ birch ply-wood years ago…Being the son of a master craftsman of cabinetry, I learned that while ply-wood may seem like cutting a corner in quality, it’s actually far more stable over time than solid woods due to its interchanging layers of wood and glue…The technique I’ve adapted to over time is that of the masters: ‘Under painting.’ I use only unbleached titanium and raw umber to paint my figures and objects. Color is only applied at the end of the process in very thin, translucent layers (colors mixed with liquin). No detail is added when I’m color washing. In a nutshell, my style is about building layers on top of layers from beginning to end.
MD: You said that in 2005, your son Max was born in the morning, and you had your show that night! Tell us about the process of getting to the exhibit.
JW: For four years my art vanished. After four years, I got to the point that I felt I was becoming generic, a cliché…part of myself was dying. I said, “I’m not going to let this happen.” So, I went to a friend, a gallery owner, and asked for time on the schedule. I decided this was the only way to make this happen, so from 5 to 8 a.m. every morning, I worked on paintings. So, that was my break – through. I felt, “If I’m ever going to do this, it is now.”
MD: Let’s talk more about your new business and also about connecting with Mythic Imagination.