Blue Belly

Duncan Aviation, Battle Creek, MI
After a week of vacation at Lake Michigan with family, I arranged to resume my work at Duncan Aviation. After meeting with Tom, my contact there, I spent the first hour saying hello to familiar faces and evaluating possible subjects.

This time the hangars were packed with small jets. It was a very different scene than last October. There were so many choices to work from it was almost distracting. One Dassault model kept catching my attention. The aircraft’s blue belly had a presence unlike some of the other adjacent planes. The cerulean blue wings and under-carriage caught reflections of light from the upper body of the plane. There was a water-like quality to these areas and I was attracted to the liquid nature and saturated color of the composition. The turquoise green protective film covered the exposed windows and an industrial orange safety strap hung vertically in front of the engine cowling. These simple elements created a stark, even abstract, composition.

When I asked which ‘pit boss’ was in charge of the servicing of that plane, I was informed that it was the older brother of a friend and classmate from my K-12 childhood education. A wonderful aspect of a small town upbringing is the familiarity and comfort of a shared history. Starting a project with this dynamic offers a certain element of relaxed congeniality which can help to facilitate the process. Over the next week I found that familiarity and flexibility valuable.

The first time I worked at the Duncan hangars, aircraft were scattered to the four corners of the building, away from the vast sliding doors which gave access to incoming and outgoing planes. This time however the hangars were filled to the point that when a plane needed to come in or out an elaborate ballet occurred with the moving and repositioning of the jets. I had unwittingly chosen a subject that was just in front of hangar doors.

I had scheduled only one week to complete the piece. While the composition was not particularly challenging, the circumstances tested me. Due to the placement of my muse, the hangar doors were subject to frequent openings and closings which meant alterations in light source. A change in lighting can completely change color, tone, value etc. I found myself changing these components several times throughout the week. Further, the aircraft I was working from had to be jockeyed to move other planes positioned deeper within the hangar. All of these disruptions made me a little concerned about completing what I had started.

One day, one of the employees brought in his granddaughter whom he had mentioned to me during my first visit to Duncan. He had explained how Brianna had begun to show a strong artistic aptitude even at her young age of 9. The visit with Brianna extended for several hours and involved me setting up a small still life and lending her some of my art supplies so that she could work along side of me. I had not planned for this tutelage during my work week but viewed it as a pleasant distraction. I reminded myself of the moments in my early years when someone dedicated time to foster my young artistic inclinations.

At one point during our time together, Brianna turned to me and asked: “Are you famous?” I laughed and said “No”. She then replied “Well, you should be! You need to get yourself out there more.”

This was just another example of how much I learn from the most unlikely sources while I am out working on a project. www.duncanaviation.aero

Old School/New School

Greenwich Public Library, Greenwich, CT
The original Greenwich Library building, which looks like it was built in the 1920s, underwent an addition sometime in the past 15 years. The modern addition is gracefully married to the more classical original edifice. Just at the intersection of the conjoining eras of the library stands a wall nearly 30 ft. tall of large, simple horizontally-oriented windowpanes. Through the windows you can see columns supporting the roof, the staircase leading to the upper level, the reception desk and the windows on the other side of the interior space which let in additional sunlight. The transparent scene inside the library was made more complex because of the reflection of the exterior setting behind me. The 1930s brick cape, the street, the modern elongated crimson torpedo-like sculpture, foliage and myself are reflected and super-imposed on the grid of the windows and the setting within.

Each session brought a rotating cast of visitors, from the Director of the Library to families who had come to use the facility. I always find it interesting to observe how people react to me painting on site. The reactions are both positive, negative and sometimes just wierd. I do not want to be considered a performance artist but I do recognize that there is an entertainment factor to what I do. I like to think that I am, in some way, pulling aside the veil and exposing some of the mysterious and unknown aspects of creating art.

One day a middle-aged woman came by and immediately began to explain her own background in painting, who she studied under, etc. She told me that she stopped painting to give career guidance then she began to give me unsolicited advice and direction on what was successful in my painting and which parts needed work. The lady told me I should get my teaching degree to earn money. As I casually began to pack up for the day, she followed me to my car. Odd, this need to engage, or connect via criticism in order to self-validate. I was the catalyst to facilitate that emotion… just because I was out there doing my thing.

The majority of my interactions with observers are more positive. An example of this occurred one afternoon. A large, gentle, dark skinned black man with walrus-like eyes and whiskers to match, carefully approached me.  He had a sketch book in hand and explained that he was originally from Jamaica where he was a cartoonist. He went on to say that he had been taking the bus to the Library every day to practice sketching quickly. He pulled out his sketch book and showed me his gesture drawings of what looked to be unknowing Library visitors. He explained he was trying to become a courtroom artist. He was reaching out to me as a fellow artist, I was touched.

The challenges with this painting have been as much to my visual perception as they are to my technical abilities. We take so much for granted regarding our ability to see. We absorb visual information all the time but how often do we analyze and deconstruct what we see in a framework? What do we see only upon closer examination? I find myself making greater use of my dominant eye in this circumstance by letting the image come in and out of focus in order to more clearly register the reflection and then the transparent scene. The task of rendering the reflection is made more complex because the windows are thermal paned (two-layers). Therefore the reflected image is doubled with one reflection slightly askew. It is at times mind-boggling to keep track of the images and what I am trying to depict. The compositional element that makes things a little more manageable is the window framework itself. The grid provides segments in which to tackle each section individually as well as part of the whole piece. It is a simple tool but it helps to keep me focused during the most difficult stages of the painting.

Another compositional element presented itself: my own reflection. I had ambivalence about including it and wondered if it was too trite but it was something that was clearly visible in the reflection. After including my own figure I realized that it added a more dynamic element than if I had omitted it. There is a certain self-deprecating aspect of this addition: the figure is represented from ankles to shoulders but my head is decapitated by the metal window frame. I suppose you could impute some sort of symbolism by the omission of my head and feet.

After nearly three weeks, I felt it was time to let it go. I am still too close to the painting to judge if it is successful.
(Images 2 & 3 courtesy of Wayne Campbell © 2010)

Weber Grills

Lakeview Hardware, Battle Creek, MI
…Arrived at the hardware store on a warm sunny morning and had to immediately determine how ambitious to be with this project. Michigan weather is notorious for its inconsistency, and while it was tempting to try an outdoor painting, there was no guarantee that I would have consistent weather the week or so I had planned for the MI visit. Wandering around the store I found myself in front of the display window near the front door. There were two grills perched on a platform adjacent to the storefront windows. Sunlight poured from the windows in front of the display and the side by side grill kettles passed light and reflection between each other. Beyond the grills and through the window I could see the street, road signs and a modest brick house across the way. Tightly positioned, in the front corner of the store, I jumped into the work as I normally would however I was more mindful this time I was in a retail establishment and didn’t want to disrupt business… Read the rest of this entry »

Hawker & Me

Duncan Aviation, Battle Creek, MI
There was a black bellied plane with tan pin strips that I found interesting. In particular, I liked all the reflection I was seeing in the black engine cowlings. This canvas was smaller partly because I didn’t want to attempt a larger piece that I might not be able to complete in the time I had given myself for the project. While the Dassault painting was primarily white, this painting would be nearly all black. The composition for the Hawker would be even more abstract than the Dassault piece. I chose a cropping composed almost exclusively of the engine cowling which shows its black underside when opened. Beyond the open black cover you can see the white upper part of the engine cover and part of the airplanes body. If you weren’t familiar with aircraft, I am not sure most people could identify what the composition represents.

In the open cowling cover, which covers more than half of the canvas, I set out to explore a convex reflection. In the reflected image I can see myself standing alongside the easel and behind me is the expanse of the hangar, other aircraft in for servicing and the network of overhead florescent lighting. Read the rest of this entry »

Dassault, 79

Duncan Aviation, Battle Creek, MI
…I had casually mentioned during a discussion about possible subject matter that I would love to paint aircraft sometime. My friend Laura offered that she knew the general manager of Duncan Aviation. Laura said that she would try to put me in contact with her friend Bill. Over the late summer, introductions were made and emails were exchanged. I invited Bill to view some of my work online so he could see and understand more about my work and methods.

On my first visit to Duncan Aviation’s facility, I walked through the building and down the hallways and I noticed the ample collection of paintings, prints and sculpture displayed at nearly every turn. It was explained to me that the Duncan family were avid art collectors. I had no prior knowledge of this but felt that the company, via it’s founders, would be more inclined to participate and host my proposed activities given their own personal interests. Read the rest of this entry »