Alan Bateman: Sharing the View 2012

Friday, May 13, 2011

Sharing the View 2012

Sharing the View 2012

I have been lucky enough to be chosen as a participating artist in CBC Radio's fundraising event for FeedNova Scotia. Twelve maritime artists will donate their work for sale and for publication in a calendar. The event rounds up in December, but my deadline to finish the painting is September.

I do have a few guidelines to meet. The painting should relate to the morning; "Information Morning" is our CBC morning show, and Holly and I wake up to it every weekday. The second guideline I have is to do a painting that is appropriate for one of the winter months (I am not sure which month). I am about to start painting but first I have to get the board (18x24in.) ready. I will probably start painting tonight. I will try to post pictures as the painting progresses.

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Artists Statement (under duress)

I usually do not write long expiations regarding any one piece of my art. I am a not a writer. The paintings, at least in my genera, are the message. If you don=t relate to them any enlightenment on my part will only help you develop a more academic understanding of why I paint. As with many artists of all disciplines my inspiration comes from living. There is a cyclical nature to my life. I am not sure if my art inspires my life or if my life inspires my art. The parts of my life that translated in to paint always leave me with a better understanding of how I see.

There are certain things that are missing from my work. This has only recently occurred to me. In a subtle way they lack any marks of modernity. I would not paint a traffic sign, or a cd player. I may even edit out hydro lines. I now know why I had an unconscious need to portray things this way. It has to do with a kind of visual literacy. It seems that you use a different part of your brain for reading symbols, and putting them in context, than you do for just experiencing something. A stop sign has a message, you can=t not read it. For me this interferes with a pure experience. Although timelessness is not an intentional component of my work, it seems to be there. I don=t feel that this is an overly contrived way of painting. It just happens to be how I see my surroundings.

My ideas come from my life. I may be out side pruning a fruit tree, as well as various other things over the course of months or even years. I am always open to situations that may reveal them selves as potential painting ideas. Fortunately, for my sanity, and unfortunately, for my prolificacy, this process takes some time. If I spent all day at the easel, there would be no influx of experiences. And if I didn’t=t paint I wouldn’t=t have the intimate parts of my life revealed to me.

Although it sounds odd, some of my paintings seem to complete themselves. One of the most difficult parts of painting is knowing when to stop. I will leave a painting when it is close to being completed, and just look at it over several days. It doesn’t=t really change, but I do. There may be a few spots that need finishing, however other areas may have been completed with in the first few minutes of work.

Alan Bateman

Friday, May 13, 2011

Sharing the View 2012

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