Painting with a big brush and lots of paint

Africa is right outside my window. The sweeping plains broken abruptly by very distant mountains is very much a part of my daily life and has been since I was born. In a way you might say I was born in Africa despite the fact I have never stepped foot on the continent.  As a young child I was so taken by the wildlife show Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom and the stories of a hunter friend that my imagination brought Africa to me on the plains of Colorado. A news reporter once visited my home to interview my sister about being a Rodeo Fair Queen. When he took notice of what I am certain were very eccentric ways to his eyes I happily answered his questions. I told him in no uncertain way that I was going to Africa and I was going to be an artist. He might have surmised the artist part when he entered our home and saw my "gallery" on the refrigerator. Prices carefully drawn in the bottom right corner.

  My formative years as a budding painter led me far from home on the plains and nearly took me to Africa had it not been for a travel ban and a freak accident resulting in the death of my would be host. All of the books and magazines I devoured about painting showed artists in far flung places painting places of mystery and beauty, and I took notice that to be a serious artist meant traveling abroad. My paintings did not improve anymore on the road than they did off my backstep where I spoke my first word as my father held me and gazed upon the moon although I did not notice this at the time I was traveling across the country.

Much of the knowledge we are exposed to in our early development doesn't resonate at the moment, rather after years of effort and persistence small nuggets from our archives rise to the surface and make sudden meaning. In the last couple of years I have experienced the emergence of knowledge. The wisdom is that my best subject matter is that which I know intimately, the land which I was born to and have spent the most time trekking upon. I see subject matter all around me now. I never realized how much the lessons of design and structure of a painting played into the selection of subject. The interaction of light and darks and the patterns created by light and shadow. The strong directional elements to be found in nature. The subtle and occasionally strong colors to be found out in nature. The infinite complexity of shapes and edges, hard and soft-contrasts. Rhythmic forms amid huge expanse.  My Africa turned out to not be Africa at all.

A painting mentor of mine playfully taunted me in the height of my misery of learning to paint on location, "It isn't what you paint, it is how you paint it!" So many years later the taunt is one of the simplest yet wisest nuggets I have stumbled upon along my journey.

What is your Africa? You may or may not have a solid notion of what subject matter you prefer or are quite literally called to represent. Some of the points of reflection that have been important to me along the way are as follows:

1. What elements seem to appear most frequently in your work? If you don't paint what are yo most drawn to? I noticed that large skies with a sliver of land, often a distant mountain were repeated literally or more subliminally in my work. Strong bands of horizontals with a minor thrust of vertical element. 

2. What fits your nature? Are you a quiet person who prefers solitude or do you prefer hustle and bustle and human companionship?

3. What angers you? 

4. What brings you peace?

5. What colors are you most sensitive to? You might know this by your wardrobe and the manner of decor in your home.

  Some of this reflection takes time and occasionally one might experience an epiphany where a overwhelming sense of place crashes like waves against rocks upon your soul will guide you. Why does any of this matter? As a painter I hope to rattle the emotional core of a person. I endeavor to awaken the viewer to the possibilities of beauty all around us. If we are to conserve any of the natural work for future generations I must help overcome the despair and hopeless mindset of the masses that my home or my place isn't worth notice. I found it is important to me to help preserve through education and building a body of work meant as a diary of my journey for others to follow. All of this became part of my discovery of "My Africa".

  I feel strongly that what we are after when we discuss our place, "Our Africa" is part of what is meant when one discusses soul. The soul of a person is particle incomplete without a spiritual place. Our place may or may not be our birth place. I know many who have found his/her place far from where physical birth took place. Why do non-painters and painters experience this strong sense of belonging?

Whether you paint or not I strongly encourage you to consider your Africa. Having a strong sense of place can bring great peace and I hope that on this journey of finding place you discover and artist who shares your vision and that you build a collection that speaks to you.

Thank you for taking the journey with me.

JR Monks

jrmonks.com