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Interview with Andrea Lawson

October 22, 2009

The first time I met Andrea Lawson was the first time I went to the Wednesday night life drawing session at the fairgrounds in Port Townsend many years ago. Andrea is a very talented local painter whose vibrant paintings and whimsical prints have been exhibited locally, nationally, and in Europe. Her current painting series, The Rite of Spring is inspired by the ballet and is about the force of nature made visual as human beings balance the energies of contemporary culture with our primitive roots. Andrea was kind enough to answer some questions about her work.

How did you like attending the Parsons School of Design, and could you briefly explain what the New School of Social Research is?

The New School of Social Research is a progressive university in New York City which is the umbrella for several schools including Parsons School of Design.

I loved attending Parsons School of Design’s MFA paining program in the 80’s. It was an atelier style studio program in a loft  space in Manhattan.  We painted from the model or still life every day. I studied with several prominent New York painters, Leland Bell, John Heliker and Paul Resika. Resika is the only one who is still alive unfortunately. There was a clothing company downstairs so whenever we needed painting rags we just rode the elevator downstairs to grab a handful of fabric scraps! It was inspiring to paint side by side with other artists. The only thing lacking in this program was the practical side. It did not train us for the work world at all. They considered that this was a time to  concentrate on painting and we would have enough of that later. Good luck!

I admire that your work is so loose and colorful. Has your style evolved over the years and how?

Thank you! It is such a difficult question!

I have always loved paint and paintings. My development has evolved in more of a spiral than a straight line.

I respond to color so I have always used color rather than tone to create space. In California, I loved to paint landscapes.The light and colorful environment tinted my view of color towards a brighter palette. Painting outside is wonderful, one feels connected to nature.I also worked on completely abstract paintings, inspired by the abstract expressionist dialog with paint. Later in NY  I painted  a lot of figure painting and still life. I mostly painted from observation.  As the monitor of a figure drawing group in Port Townsend, I spent years drawing from the figure. The human model is endlessly inspiring. My paint strokes mirror the figure’s movement and gesture.I knew that I wanted to find a way to incorporate the figure into my work and when I saw the Rite of Spring ballet in Seattle I knew that was going to be my project. I am probably blending what I have learned over the years into what is my style now, a mixture of letting the paint speak with the brush’s gesture and paint’s accidents and interlacing figures and nature created from observation..I think that my current paintings have become freer and more expressive of myself.

Who are your favorite contemporary artists and why?

Well, I am always discovering contemporary artists that I like, sometimes my favorites depend on where I am with my art and life at the time. I have been very influenced by Grace Hartigan because of her melding of abstract expressionism and imagery. I saw her work in New York in the 1980’s and then discovered it again several years ago. Looking at her paintings inspired me to continue on my current path where I am creating a similar combination of abstract and figurative shapes. Nicolas Carone also works this way.
Recently, I saw an exhibit by Clayton James. I love all kinds of experimentation. If the artist is sincere and brings a sense of joy or curiosity or humor to the work, I respond whatever the style or medium. But when I saw Jame’s work, I felt at home in a sense with his very controlled but loose style. I was happy to see such good painting. No matter what new materials are in use, there will always be painting. It is one of the most direct mediums.

There is an artist named Joan Snyder who uses color in a very unusual almost physical manner.

Other contemporaries and wonderful painters are Yael Zahavy-Mittelman and Carla Aurich. These painters express real emotion in their work. I think that some viewers are afraid of emotion in painting. One has to feel an artwork for it to have meaning.

I agree, Andrea. Thanks for the interview.

To see more of Andrea’s work, visit

www.andreaklawson.com

To find out about the Quimper Arts life drawing sessions, visit

www.quimperarts.blogspot.com

Filed under: Art, Art Interviews

Tags: Andrea Lawson, Art, Jefferson County Wa, Olympic Peninsula WA, painting, Port Hadlock, Port Townsend