Hello everyone! This is Jackson and welcome to the 15th interview for my blog, 3 Art Questions With Jackson. This time I interviewed Susan Solomon who is a great artist and has been very helpful to me. She is great and very nice. I think you will agree! Thanks for reading!
Jackson: How old were you when you first became interested in art and what made you interested?
Susan: I remember always loving the big box of crayons, especially periwinkle, and would play with the crayons like they were alive. I grew up in Queens, New York. Once in 3rd grade we had a school contest where we had to draw a garbage can. I actually HAD a favorite garbage can; it looked like metal mesh. I drew that, won the contest and had my drawing posted on the bulletin board. That was a proud moment! It made what I loved to do the most seem important.
Jackson: What are you thinking about when you make your art? Do you try to clear your brain first?
Susan: This is a great question and oh so much better than the “what is your process” question! When I make art, there is only that on my mind. Sometimes I’ll catch myself actually saying out loud the tube of color I need to grab. Sometimes I sort of sculpt into the paint with a paper towel, as if entering the space. Entrance and layers of color and light are important. Angles are key. I don’t really need to clear my brain. On its own, it clicks into art mode and everything else disappears. Many, many times I will think about what I want to paint long before I do it, so the actual painting session is the final step after all the initial thinking.
Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be?
Susan: I would spend time with a former teacher who died a few years ago. His name was Murray Dessner, and he was the kindest and most gentle man you’d ever want to meet. I took drawing classes from him at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, where I graduated from. Murray was an abstract expressionist painter, and he taught about the elements of art and how you find the same basic structures in all kinds of painting. He spoke about light and layers and composition, entering a painting and how that knowledge applies to every piece. He said things like, “think about how every corner of the canvas is painted.” And then in his drawing classes, he’d have us draw so fast that a kind of intuitive art possession took over. He always, always, stressed foreground, middle ground, background, and the art of making marks. I would meet him again for sure if I could meet any artist.
