Jan Vanderlinden
Painting/Oil
1227 Cedar Ave, Boulder, CO 80304
My father used to fish. Trout. He explained to me one day that the key to fishing is watching the river, looking for places a fish might rest, where they might watch the water stream by, ready to dart out to catch a bug, some food, a hook. The moment when the fisher and the fish meet is an instant. A good fisherman takes time before casting the line.
Painting too is about looking, studying, wondering, finding a place or the objects or the notion where I might rest and watch. Settling in there, feeling the place, the objects in space. Then, for me, mixing the oil, turpentine and paint. Finding the right color, hue, tone. The right mood, wherever a place or a shape might take me. Then casting the loaded brush onto the canvas and letting go. I’m hoping to feel the hook catch my brush. It’s always a joy to paint outside. Just like a hunter or fisher, but I have a brush.
Sometimes I paint still lifes or portraits. Watching is what is important for me. Not painting to agree with what I am seeing, but to interact with it. I’m still working on what that means. I have painted a long time - I got an MFA from Hunter College in New York City in the 80’s. I studied a lot of theory which didn’t help my painting too much. But I got to live in an amazing city and see so much great art. Shortly after graduating I took an18 year hiatus from painting. I started up again a while after I moved back to Colorado. Which is a beautiful place.
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