Interview with Sculptor Karen Delaney @ Terrain Restaurant

Even though we were both late for our lunch reservation at Terrain, we happened to arrive within a minute of each other. I was late because I was in search the second “B” in bring your own bottle; it was a Friday. How could one ease into the weekend with out a little celebration. My interviewee, artist Karen Delaney, on the other hand was running behind schedule because her itinerary was jam packed yet she was very well prepared because she had called ahead and made the reservation and remembered to get a bottle of wine before leaving the house. This bit of an introduction should give a little insight on the go forth, get stuff done personality of Karen. Karen is a boundless ball of energy. Her presence and determination show in her biceps. Her confidence in herself and laissez-faire attitude come across in her words. She was concerned that the interview wasn't interesting enough yet comfortable enough to tell me how much she weighs. (Now I know as a husband and male, you never ask a woman what she weighs or her age.)

Karen is a local sculptor of Chester County and the director of Chester County Art Association, but her resume reads like an old Soviet map. She studied and taught in Austria and placed large public sculptures in both Poland and Hungary. Her sculptures are architecturally inspired towers, arcs, curves and angles that hold their own space. There is not one good side to these edifices; they are all good sides. The 18 gauge steel bends to join another piece and this encounter is held and captured by molten metal. The heat from the torch dapples the edges with shades of blue and green forming tiger striped patterns along the steel’s surface. Sometimes a sphere balanced cautiously rests on a facet of the sculpture giving the sculpture a softer side, a human touch. The sphere becomes a focal point, the tension, it is the heart of the piece. But, I'm just a painter smitten by the creativity and command of space Karen possesses. Instead of me going on and on. Let's let Karen answer the questions and the wine be the truth.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

How did you get started making art?
I always liked decorating when I was a kid. I spent time after school working on art. My art teacher, Mr. Miller, at Ben Franklin Elementary contacted my parents and said, “You know she has interest and talent in art.” So, I always liked the art and always was building. My dad was a very hands on guy so whenever there was a house project, I was there doing it with him. So the construction part and the building part of the art that I do comes from that.

Did you receive any formal art training?
I went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, undergraduate, and got my BFA. I worked with James Nestor who is a pretty significant sculptor in the United States and then I was supposed to go on to Rice University in Houston to get my architecture degree because I thought that was the most sensible thing to do. But I had put in an application to Radford University in Virginia and was contacted by them and was offered a teaching fellowship. I knew I didn’t want to put sculpture on the back burner; I wanted to continue to do my sculpture. So they payed me and I taught. So for the better part of that graduate education, I was able to teach undergraduates and then I had great studio space. After that I went on to graduate studies and I got my MFA.

Can you describe your work in general for the readers?
It’s predominately made of steel and architecturally influenced with a deliberate quirkiness or awkwardness to it.

What part of the art making process do you enjoy most?
The correspondence with the piece as it’s developed. My favorite part is having that conversation with the piece and noting when the best time to make decisions is. For example, when I am working on a tabletop piece, I’ll pull it in from the studio and onto my kitchen island. Then I’ll make dinner, talk to my kids or just view it as I’m walking down the stairs and I will have a gut instinct on what the piece needs. I love that point when it becomes very clear as to what it needs or if it’s not working. Then you make a change and then it speaks to you again and so on. That whole process, I thoroughly enjoy.

When did you learn to weld?
It was at The Pennsylvania Governors School For the Arts and I was 17 years old. It was a program that I wish still existed. It was a summer arts program that lasted a month; it was a scholarship thing. You had to be accepted into it and it was for the visual arts, vocal, dance, music and theater, so it was all of the arts. So, I was with hundreds of other really creative people and it was a charge to be with those other people. They broke the visual arts into groups so some would paint, some would do printmaking and some would do sculpture. So they demoed sculpture first with welding. I made a torso with scrap metal and I was hooked.

How do you do choose your subject matter?
Well I work with 18 gauge sheet metal, sometimes 16 gauge, because it is less rigid and less masculine. Steel tends to have a more masculine connotation but the way I work it, it tends to be more feminine and very soft because it’s thin metal and much more organic and reacts to heat more so it’s more fluid looking.

You use a lot of spheres in your work, why? About two years ago, I stumbled upon spheres as being interesting objects. I thought they were interesting and I actually started with wool balls. I was more fascinated by how contrasting the wool balls were with the metal. I like the play between materials but my viewers were really interested in spheres. No one could tell me why they liked them but they got a lot of reaction and so I thought there is something to this. They just became the body of my work. I don’t know if it will always be the case but they are kind of a symbol for certain things in my life.

How do you see your work impacting the viewer?
Well, working as a sculptor, you eliminate a lot of viewers. There are plenty of people who can’t respond to or do not want to respond to three dimensional work. So because of this, I feel like I narrow my audience. However, when people do connect with my sculpture, it’s usually when people see many of my works together in one space. I always get the comment that it transports them to a place. It’s like they can visualize themselves being three inches taller and walking around it, which I think is a great accomplishment because often times I’ll look at a piece and it’s sizeless. It’s like when you photograph a sculpture, it usually looks bigger than it is and when that happens I think it’s really successful. Some people say it takes them to a different place, it changes their size or it’s like being in a little village. I also get comments that my sculpture is interesting from all angles. My sculpture should be exhibited in the round because really there is no side that is necessarily more important than the others.

“How do you decide when an artwork is done?"
Sometimes, I goof that up and I do have a pile of “clinkers.” That’s exactly what I call them. They are basically scraps that are ready to be sculpture, which is good because there is a history and that makes them richer. Sometimes I overwork things. I try not to and I’m not the type to have someone in the background approving it. When I’m in full mojo, I work very smoothly but sometimes I overwork them and then I just have to be patient and sit with them for a while.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life?
My husband, John has been the biggest influence in my life and James Nestor has been the biggest influence in my art.

What inspires you?
I’m going to say, other people’s work. I love it when I see something new and it affects me. It can be a local artist or someone I see in a museum.

Do you have any habits or morning routines you do before going to the studio?
I always have to have something to drink. It could be coffee or it could be Smartwater. I also have to have rock music. It could be Metallica or just some really loud rock band. It just jumpstarts me.

What are you eating right now?
I am eating turkey and some kale with some goat cheese, which I love.

What is your favorite food? I am a big fish eater.
My natural inclination is to eat things that are healthy.

What does home mean to you?
Having comfort

Your proudest moment?
It has yet to come.

What was your father right about?
Honesty is always the best policy.

Money is OK, but it isn’t what life is about. What is it about?
It’s about satisfaction.

Where did you grow up?
Indiana, PA, it’s 50 miles east of Pittsburgh.

What is the last book you read?
I’m in the middle of Just Kids. It’s a book about Robert Maplethorpe and Patty Smith.

Something that is important on your nightstand?
My lipbalm

Your best birthday?
Camping with my family for my fortieth birthday.

FIRSTs
Big Break: I think it was going to Hungary. I have a 13 foot sculpture standing on the Danube, permanently.
Album: It was Bachman Turner Overdrive, Taking Care of Business.
Piece of art you sold: I was a masters student and it was a very organic tabletop sculpture that was made of steel and plaster.
Strangest Possession: My father made me stilts when I was 8 years old and they are painted bright blue and they are about 2 ½ feet off the ground.

I paused the art talk along with our dialogue on the local art scene to discuss the culinary

activities we were about to take part in. We sat in the old greenhouse of Jacob Styer this greenhouse once supplied cut flowers to travelers coming and going to Philadelphia. It now houses the farm to table restaurant at the ultra creative, upscale, outdoor accessory store, that is called Terrain. The best way to describe Terrain is what you would have if you had Martha Stewart, Steve Jobs, Milton Glasser and Bob Villa cleaned up the Sanford and Sons Place. It has everything that you could have probably made but didn't and they did, so you buy it, bring it home and post it on Pinterest like you did. Terrain has that NYC feel but has the comfort of Chester County and it starts with their menu. The menu reads like a grocery list. Karen decided to enjoy the rosemary honey mustard turkey breast, raw kale, brussels, dried fruit, mixed nuts, goat cheese, apple topped with a honey vinaigrette. I had the grass feed hanger salad with arugula, grilled zucchini and garlic chips…you get the idea. It was just as scrumptious as it sounds. If the portions were only as big as the descriptions, we would have been stuffed. Luckily there was room left for dessert. There was a brief conversation that maybe we should share but the dessert options were some things that I’d never make nor see again. We decided to each get one, then share so we could widen our horizons of culinary delight. In the meantime I continued to probe.

Like all good meals and insightful conversations, it must come to an end at some point. I signaled to the waitress for our check so we could finish up a day’s work. Karen was off to manage her other career as a full-time mom of three. Don't be fooled into thinking she is June Cleaver. She has been seen rocking out with her kids at concerts, cheering for them at hockey games and spending weekends camping with the family. This woman of steel doesn't rest because there is too much to do and too much to worry about. She is able to make small and tall sculpture with passion and conviction.

Don’t forget to see Karen’s answers to the speed questions along with some of her athletic ability.

Interview with Artist Dane Tilghman at the Little Chef

I walked into Little Chef Restaurant in Coatesville, past the lunch counter to find a seat in the main dining room. I have driven by this little family restaurant many times but only noticed the retro chef guy on the sign, never thinking I would stop in for a bite. Today was different; I was stopping in for lunch to meet artist/entrepreneur Dane Tilghman. I sat down and pulled my weighty wooden chair up to the table to wait for Dane's arrival. This would be the first time I had met Dane, so I wasn't sure what to expect. He is a big guy with an inner glow that radiates out from his eyes and smile. At first glance, I would say he looks like the typical intimidating big guy but really he is as kind and courteous as a true gentleman.

More surprising was the content of his character. He possesses a deep love and passion for all that is close to his heart. A family man that found out at a young age, while working for his father, that he didn't want the “9 to 5 thing”. He had his mind set on being an artist. Come what may, he was going to support his wife and two children through the brilliance of his brush. With a pallet of styles and colors, he set out to capture his family and heritage on canvas. After mastering realism, he had reached a state of boredom. Pushing himself to do better and fueled by his passion for happiness; he broke free with an elongated Cubism inspired folk art. Tilghmanʼs totally fantastic style can capture blues players and Negro baseball players and present them to the everyday common man.

I hit record on my iPhone and placed it close to Dane to capture his soft-spoken voice and allow him to tell his story.

  

How did you get started making art?

It started when I was little kid. I was probably about four years old. We were in West Chester, right at Chestnut Street. My brother, who is about a year and a half older than me, would draw and I would draw too. I just did what my brother did. (Is he still doing it?) Heck no. He gave up on it a long time ago. So thatʼs how I started and then we moved to Paoli when I was like four and a half. He went to kindergarten and I stayed home and did some drawing. Then when I went to kindergarten, I started hanging out with people who could draw other stuff. You learn that way. I was like a sponge. If you were drawing a horse, then I would draw a horse.

Did you receive any formal art training?

I went to Kutztown and got a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic arts. Iʼll tell you what, I did not want to be a graphic designer. I went to Conestoga High School with Paul Bernhardt who was a tremendous ceramicist. He taught over at Yellow Springs. He was my teacher and he told me if you want to make a living as an artist you have to do this(graphic design) and I said ok, that makes sense, but I hated it. I got a degree in something I couldnʼt stand.

Describe your work in general.

Itʼs a...Iʼm a people person so people are the thing that I paint more than anything else. I center it around several other subject matters like music, whether itʼs Blues or Jazz or sports like Baseball. Thereʼs my what I call Everyday Man Series. I work from old black and white photography. In the beginning I was doing it in pencil and watercolor working from old photographs of my own family and relatives who have been in West Chester since 1900. I would have shows at my first gallery, Merrill Collection in West Chester, which is now in North Carolina. I would get a lot of the “old timers” come around and say, “Oh yeah, I remember her. I knew her.” That was pretty cool. I like history; I like family and I love a good story. These folks were telling me stuff that I didnʼt know about the people I was drawing at the time so it was pretty cool.

Whatʼs your medium of choice?

Right now, itʼs acrylic but like I said I started with watercolor and pencil. I started it maybe about 14 years ago. I still do pencil. I havenʼt done watercolor, I dropped it and I was really good at watercolor but it didnʼt allow me to do impressionism. I use a lot of palette knife now.

How do you choose your subject matter?

Well itʼs mostly from the black and white photography so I either go online to the Library of Congress website. Iʼve even gone down to the Library of Congress. They have a lot of black and white photographic books. I just flip through until something feels right. Thatʼs my thought process; it has to feel good. Then you start to put the picture together because sometimes a painting will have three or four different references. A little bit from here and a little bit from there so you are building a story. Sometimes a photo will tell a whole story but you arenʼt using all of the elements in the photo. Now Iʼm doing it in my elongated style.

Since you do black and white, where do you get your color palette from?

Well, from...here. Black and white, for me, is a vehicle; it gives me an image that tells a story. Color sometimes gets in the way of that story. I can feel the soul; I can connect better on almost a spiritual level to that photograph when itʼs just black and white. Once I get that story in me, then Iʼll allow the colors to come back out. I see it as a jumping off point.

What inspires you?

Again, itʼs people

Do you have any habits or routines in the morning, before you go to the easel? 

Yep, I usually get up as early as 6. I go straight to the computer. I read some books, some biblical stuff; read the Word. I would say by 9 or 9:30 Iʼm usually ready to do something related to the art business. That might be to run down to the city to take a piece of artwork to my photographer, Greg. You know that sort of thing. It varies, but when youʼre in business for yourself you have to do all of these things. I may not even get to some painting until 5 or 6 in the afternoon.

How did you develop your unique view on perspective?

It started with realism. I was really good at realism. I still am but it got boring. It was almost like I was looking to be perfect at figures and stuff. There was even a point when I stopped doing figures and was doing rocks and water and leaves. Youʼre talking some pretty complicated stuff. I was getting the reflections right and the whole prismatic thing going on and the highlights. It was fun but youʼre talking about pieces that took 125 hours to do.

What does home mean to you?

Hmmm...thatʼs an interesting question. How do you answer a question like that? My home is where my studio is; I do everything from there. Being around my kids and my wife and having my own space is like routine. I would say home is like routine.

What is your proudest moment?

My kids being born for sure

What was your mother right about?

(Laughing) Well my dad used to say, “I canʼt wait until you become a father.” Heʼd say he couldnʼt wait until we became fathers so he could sit back and laugh at us. I donʼt know how to answer the one about my mother.

Money is ok, but it isnʼt what life is about. What is it about?

Living it. Living it straight out.

Where did you grow up?

In Paoli

What was the last book you read?

Well, the Bible; I read the Word of God all of the time. Outside of that, I read a lot of self help books.

You collect?

Other artists’ artwork

  

Something that is important on your nightstand?

My earplugs

Your strangest possession?

My coin collection

At your best, you are most like this famous person?

Bill Cosby

What was the first play you saw?

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf

First big break?

It was in Gary, Indiana. I was coming back with Ros, my wife, and my daughter who was probably 3 at the time. I went out there to do an engineerʼs convention. I didnʼt make any money but on the way back, we stopped at a lawyerʼs house who I had told that I was coming to Chicago. She said, “Well since youʼre passing by Chicago give me a call and bring some new artwork.” We go to her house and she bought like 5 originals cause the show in Chicago sucked. I made like $12,000.

First album

Kool and the Gang

First concert

It might have been Kool and the Gang

First plane ride

It was in college from Washington, DC to Allentown

First piece of art you sold

A picture of a little boy on a back porch, sitting on the steps. It was done in pastel. I sold it for $25.

I had to hit pause to give Dane a chance to eat. The questions led to deeper

discussions and random tangents of shared experiences. Dane finished up his overly stuffed turkey hoagie, brimming with fresh turkey, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers. It was one of his favorites here at Little Chefʼs. He proudly stated that it was real turkey. For reasons unknown to me, I ordered the Italian sausage sandwich with peppers and onions topped with cheese; it just sounded so good. I was not disappointed. A generous sized roll that Subway might look into using soaked up the sauce while making a nice cradle for the flavor-loaded sausage. Each of the lunch entrees was priced at a modest $7.99; you can't beat it for the portions. Dane ordered another iced tea and since there was no booze to be had, I went with my standard choice, another glass of chocolate milk. I hit record and finished the questions.

Time was short, the meal was big and we both left a quarter of our sandwiches, unable to finish them. Then we headed over to his store/gallery/storage space in the heart of Coatesville. The sign read PLJC and the window read, artwork of Dane Tilghman. It was a public relations nightmare in brand identity. Once inside it all made sense. Dane is an artist and entrepreneur. We walked past rows of paintings stacked five deep against the wall near his assembly station. He showed me the die-cutter he bought to help make funeral fans. Yes he expanded his business and printed his southern folk art on the fronts of funeral fans. Back in the day he was selling thousands of them. He commented, “If you want to see something strange, go to a funeral convention.” I'll take his word on it. We walked downstairs as he told me his plans to open a restaurant in the building someday or maybe a gallery or something else. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, he admitted that he wants to simplify his life. At 55, having made art for the past 35 years, Iʼd say this won't be easy. I stood there looking at five rows of shelving packed with prints, artwork, uncut funeral fans and much, much more. Truthfully, I wanted to stay and root through this collection of Dane's art history. It was his own unorganized retrospective. It put Al Capone's vault to shame and made Egypt's kings look poor. We headed back upstairs and once outside, he closed the door to his accomplishments behind him and headed to Philadelphia for a meeting. I didn't ask what the meeting was for; I mused that it was another big project or idea with which Dane had been blessed.

The Speed Round Question:

Interview with Dan Reed @ The Peanut Bar

Dan Reed is everything I wanted to be when I grew up. He paints our “love affair” with the 1950’s and captures it’s allure by painting classic automobiles. I so wanted to use the word “cars” but I thought it uncouth; it’s like calling the Venus De Milo a lawn ornament.

I grew up in the “car culture.” My dad was and still is a big “motorhead.” I was more interested in getting from one place to another. Ironically it was my dad that brought Dan and I together. My dad saw this awesome painting, which happened to be Dan’s, and they became Facebook friends. When I happened to need a Christmas present for my dad; it was a match made in Heaven. What followed shortly after was a very enjoyable lunch at the Peanut Bar.

Now one does not have to be Freud to see my envy towards Dan. Dan masters perspective and has a view of the world that would make you think that he is three feet tall. Not at all, rather it’s the angle of his reference photos that best capture the beautiful curves of a classic automobile. He only paints the cars he has seen so it becomes a personal connection. Maybe it is a stealing from childhood memories and an affinity for the automobile he still shares with his dad. Which is why his dad frequently visits him at work. If Dan isn’t at his home studio, he can be found at many of the invitational auto shows. It’s a busy season and a niche market that he has successfully navigated through. He can tell it better than I can.

How did you get started making art?

I don’t know. (Laughs) I guess like most of us, I started when I was a kid. I wasn’t good at sports…the only thing I was really into was art and music and by the time I reached college, it was the only thing I could even contemplate.


Did you receive any formal art training? Where and what did you major in?

My only formal training was at West Chester University as an art major. I was specifically a graphic design major but when I actually started taking things like pottery and sculpting, I found out I had a better knack at painting than graphic design. So, that’s the route I wound up going. I switched over about halfway through my college years. 


Can you describe your work in general for the readers?


Most recently, especially in the last ten years, I really started billing myself as an automotive fine artist because that’s my craft. My interest in classic and antique automobiles goes back as far as my interest in art. So it was really a natural progression.

What is your media?


I paint all in acrylics.

Why did you start painting cars?


Gus Sermas (his art professor) told me I should (laughs). It’s funny cause the graphic design instructor that I had at the time came over my shoulder one day while I was in between classes, doing my own painting and said, “You’re not going to make money painting cars.” Sermas is the one who told me to paint what you know.


What are your thoughts on perfection?


I don’t know if I’m a perfectionist. This is a good question because I really don’t know the answer. It’s so subjective. It’s nice when people comment on my work and I think as an outsider, a lot of people put me into that category when it comes to the detail. A lot of people say, “Oh my gosh, I feel like I could walk into that canvas, open the door and sit in that car.” But it’s not something I’m necessarily conscious of. When I put paint to canvas, I find myself more recently trying to get away from some of the real minute detail and I think Sermas is still in the back of my head saying, “Use a bigger brush…put more paint on the canvas.” I tend to start a canvas that way. I throw the paint on and one great thing I like about acrylics is that it dries in ten minutes so I can put a second layer on.

Tell me about some of your favorite techniques?


For the automotive type artwork there has to be a certain amount of tightness. Unlike the backgrounds in my paintings that aren’t drawn in, the car is. One of my techniques is the good old fashioned, find the vanishing points, get the perspective right and I lay the canvas flat on a large work table so my vanishing point may be out several inches from the canvas itself. That technique allows me to get the car in proportion because if it looks out of proportion, people spot that a mile away. These car guys are going to know if I painted a ’37 Packard. They’ll know if the fenders aren’t right or if the headlights aren’t in the right position. So I’m a stickler when it comes to the automobiles specifically for them to be correct, proportionately, the perspective and accurate in every last detail of the automobile.

How do you decide when an artwork is done?


Usually that happens pretty easily. I always leave it up on the easel for at least a day; step away from it, get some other stuff done then come back to it and there’s always something when you come back to it fresh. Usually it is things like highlights which with the automotive work really makes it pop off the canvas.

Name two influential automotive artists?


Ken Eberts and Tom Hale

What inspires you?


A lot of things. Naturally I’m inspired by some of the automobiles I see at a show. I always have my camera. I always get a chance to run out and catch things that spark my interest but inspiration can come from the weirdest places.  Like a painting that was inspired by a trip to a nursery that my wife drug me out to. I wanted to be in the studio. It was one of those rare sunny days in the middle of the summer where there was very low humidity so there was really no haze. The nursery was on an old farm and I was standing a few feet away from this barn and I had my sunglasses on. My wife’s looking for plants and I happen to look up and the sun is shining down on the metal roof of this barn and it was so bright against the sky that the sky was really a dark blue as you looked straight up at it. I felt like, “Come on let’s go. I gotta get out of here. I have to get back to the studio.” I got back and sketched it out really quickly just so I wouldn’t forget the idea; a brightly sunlit building against a dark, dark blue sky. I eventually used that concept for one of my paintings. People love it. It’s a hot selling print and I sold the original to someone down in Texas.


Do you have any habits or morning routines you do before going to the easel?


Yeah, I usually make a pot of coffee. Email and Facebook are the first two things that I check in the morning as I drink my cup of coffee. My routine pretty much conforms to my wife’s schedule.

What are you eating right now?


A roast beef sandwich.

What is your favorite food?


It would have to be pasta. I do most of the cooking. One of my favorite things was my grandmother’s chicken cutlet. My grandmother on my mom’s side is Italian so she gave me her recipe for it and I make it at least once a week.

What does home mean to you?


Well, that’s where my studio is. One thing I noticed, working twelve years at a corporate 9-5 job, is that I couldn’t wait for vacation time. Eight years ago when I transitioned to doing art work full time, and I left the corporate world; I don’t appreciate vacation time. My wife works at a tough job and she loves vacations. Our main vacation is taking two weeks off in October, right around our wedding anniversary. She can’t wait. Not that I don’t want to go. I appreciate the time off because we get to do some fun things together but it’s tough not to walk into that studio and want to do something. So I’m perfectly content to have the studio be part of the house but it’s tough to not go in there all the time.


Your proudest moment?


Off the top of my head it was probably when I was selling one of my paintings for a record amount…at auction.

What was your mother right about?


I gotta hand it to her, she was right about a lot of things.

Money is OK, but it isn’t what life is about. What is it about?

I’m happiest when I am creating. When I get an idea in my head, I can’t wait to work it out.


Where did you grow up?

In Chester County, Glenmoore.


What is the last book you read?


Stephen Colbert’s I Am America (and So Can You!)

Now that I had totally lived my “Sliding Door” (movie reference) moment, I came to terms with the path that I had chosen and realized that I had forgot that I needed to write about the restaurant at which we were eating. After all, these are lunch interviews.

Jim Kramer’s Peanut Bar has an allure and hype combined with good prices, a friendly staff and your standard bar fare that really make it interesting. It’s history in and of itself is very cool. Since Dan’s paintings have that vintage flair, we might as well eat at a place that has the same vibe.

We finished our beers which were a Fraziskaner and  a Victory Prima Pils. We talked some more about our similarities and then our differences. The more people you know, the smaller the world becomes. We discussed our college professors and both had the exact same experience in reference to how we became artists. Despite the fact that we went to different universities and had different professors, we were told to focus on graphic design because we would never make it as painters. Maybe that was the best part of the meal, the sweetness of success.

Dan Reed’s prints can be seen here. 

Erica Brown Interview

Enjoying lunch at Pietros in West Chester is the last place you would find artist Erica Brown, but I dragged her out of her house with daughter in tow.  I say dragged because catching Erica, when she isn’t painting or working or catching her breath with a 9 month old is a pull in the opposite direction. She is a night owl with bright blue eyes and a welcoming smile. If you’ve ordered a beverage at the bar of Pietros, she probably served it to you. So now you know how the restaurant review is going to go, it is like Erica’s second home.

I brought her to Pietros to find out about her second love…painting. Her first love is her beautiful blue eyed daughter, Annaleah, who contentedly sat on her lap for our conversation. One word used to describe Erica is passionate. She puts her heart, soul, fears, and beliefs behind and in front of a field of chaotic harmonious color. It is mixed media layered with the past and the tranquility of the present. As an artist she changes mediums effortlessly, be it encaustic or acrylic, it is always passionate. There is an intense desire to find herself and her ever-changing life. Hopefully her answers to the questions below give some insight to her abstract work.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

How did you get started making art?
As soon as I could hold a crayon I would be drawing. I grew up in a studio so there would be things around to use. My mom would be encouraging me. She would give me watercolors and brushes.

Did you receive any formal art training? Where and what did you major in?
I did, in school I actually transferred to a private school my junior and senior year. There was a really great art teacher I wanted to study under, Mrs. Unger.  Then, I went to Tyler for college.

Please describe your work in general for the readers?
I would say abstract but organically based and inspired by nature.

What is your medium?
Mainly encaustic, but I do work in acrylic and sometimes pencil; I do drawing as well.

How do you do choose your subject matter? 
I find my paintings as I paint them. So, a lot of times there are things that may be in my head but I like to paint the paintings through the process of making them. Later, down the road, I find them. I usually work on about six at once, all different sizes. That way if I get really frustrated with one, I move to another.

What are your thoughts on perfection?
Well I think every artist is a perfectionist to some extent. People ask me what is my favorite painting. I have some I like better than others, and have some that I think are more successful than others. But I have not painted perfection yet. I may never paint that painting. If I painted a painting that I thought was perfect than I would have no reason to keep going.

What are a few tips for encaustic painters?
Oh be careful about the fumes. And be careful about the flames. At Tyler I got into using wax and someone said, “Why don’t you try encaustic?” But I couldn’t do it on the premises because of the fumes.  So I had to do it at home. At the time I was living in an apartment so my studio was in the basement with a tiny little window and a tiny little fan. I hadn’t researched it a ton and was in love with Prussian blue. I started getting really sick: fatigued, achy, and had a weird taste in the back of my mouth.  Out of curiosity a friend looked it up for me and found out that Prussian blue produces cyanide gas. So, I found out I was giving myself cyanide poisoning.

How do you decide when an artwork is done?
Obviously I was trained at Tyler and so I  know certain things, but honestly it’s like a fight going on with all the paintings I am working on. I kind of go around and around; most of the time its very angsty with all that’s going on. People think I am crazy, but I guess I kind of am. When we’re not fighting any more its like “Oh this is all you need.” It doesn’t mean its good, but it’s done.

Who has been the biggest influence in your life?
Family and friends. Jeff Schaller, you have been very encouraging.

What would you like your daughter to remember about you?
That I love her. Some people say, “Maybe you should just go on sabbatical?” But, I would much rather have her see her mother working very hard and struggling financially while pursuing something she loves.

What inspires you?
A lot of small things: Looking around in my travels, music, emotions, inspired stories; the way windows are cracked. Or there’s a tree over on Gay Street that is eating the bricks, and I pass it all the time. I love it! And the cracking of paint, I’m always like, “That’s so cool!” That’s just something I am naturally attracted to, the wear and tear.

You’re a late night painter, what’s your normal routine?
Usually I kind of get the place cleaned up and that sort of thing. Than, I look over what I have done the night before; removing fire hazards. Its more of finding my tools again, because they all get covered in wax. So it’s re-harvesting my materials, removing fire hazards, and getting back into it.

You have made reference to being an artist is humbling, why?
Well, painting on demand is hard. It’s a struggle. Your work is not always appreciated. You may hate the painting or feel cheated. I might labor and the whole thing might be hard but than I see someone standing in front of one of my paintings and their incredibly moved and touched in a way I feel like I cant take credit for. There are people that are like, “Wow I feel like I am exactly where that painting’s at.” There is just sometimes a really deep connection some people have with artwork and when I see that, I just want to tip toe away. I remember the first time that happened to me with the first big truly abstract painting I had ever done. I had been working and went to take a break late at night. I came back and there was somebody standing there five feet away with their head cocked. And they had this look on their face that was like, Wow! And I remember being like, “That’s awesome,” and tip toed away.

What are you eating right now?
I am eating the sirloin burger with steak fries. It’s delicious.

What is your favorite food?
Everything that’s really bad for me: fries, fried chicken, ice cream, but I don’t let myself eat that very often.

What does home mean to you?
I think it’s more of an environment than a place. It’s where you can let your guard down and feel at ease.

Your proudest moment?
I think I continually keep having them since I have had her (looking at Annaleah).

What was your mother right about?
She told me this would be hard, not that she didn’t want me to do it. She was encouraging, but she knew that it would be rough. It has been, but I would rather have it this way then not. It’s worth it.

Money is OK, but it isn’t what life is about. What is it about?
It’s about living, experiencing, and loving. Most people will be poor most of their lives but we’re so rich in so many ways.  You can’t buy the things that bring you joy. There have been times where I needed to choose between food and paint and I chose paint. And literally, I wouldn’t eat for a few days. But I would have that color red for that painting I was trying to get done. It’s crazy but it’s not always that dramatic or hard. Now that my career has been built up a bit it’s not like that. But if you’re coming from there than your like, “ I can eat anything! Life is great!”

Where did you grow up?
In Malvern, PA.

What is the last book you read?
Unfortunately, most books I have been trying to read lately are about parenting. If I have the time or energy I am usually in the studio or trying to sleep.

You collect?
Odd things like tree branches. The oddest things strike my fancy. I like having them around, they inspire me.

Something that is important on your nightstand?
Pacifier.

Your strangest possession?
My water buffalo skull.

Your best birthday?
My best birthday was two birthdays ago. Bill and I were dating. It was right before she came along. He just made me this great dinner and gave me this really beautiful gift, than we went out.

FIRSTs

Play- Bye Bye Birdie

Album- Its either the Cranberries or Ace of Base

Concert-  James Taylor.

Plane ride- To Seattle 

As for Erica’s second home, Pietros is everything you’d expect in a steak house; rustic brick walls, heavy wooden chairs, and tables with linens. Since it’s a steak place, I’m getting the ribeye sandwich with a side of onion rings. There “she” was, presented as a perfect 9oz steak on bread and huge breaded golden-crisp onion rings the rings were huge and generously coated with batter. It would make your heart stop…literally. Erica’s suggestion of a beautiful Cabernet was Crusher, a perfect companion for my steak. Erica had a hefty hamburger with a side of fries, which was enough to last her through all my questions and beyond. Her daughter, Annaleah, was mostly content on her moms lap and being the center of attention among the wait staff. She let us know when the interview was over. Her eyelids grew heavy and it was nap time. We walked back to Erica’s studio talking about more art and raising kids. I left to go back to my studio and finish painting but I did consider a nap myself. 

SPEED ROUND QUESTIONS