A Dialog on Painting with Michael Bravo

It was about two weeks ago with a friend, Linguist Michael Bravo came to visit. We got to talking about my work and what you are about to experience is the culmination of that day, along with many views into my work you may not have seen before. This is in some ways, the only way I can reach out to those who have not yet seen my paintings in person, and to give them some of the views of my work that I get to enjoy everyday. There are so many wonderful views in these paintings and this is my only way of sharing them with you. Until we can get you to see them in person.




Enjoy. BTW, the audio was recorded with a Zoom H4n which is kind of binural so you'll hear me more in one side of your speakers and Michael in the other side. It's quite the amazing device for recording. It's what i've used in my interviews since day one.

JEFFREY COLLINS: PAINTER

 

Interior, Exterior, and Textural...

My newest painting... 01-15-2015 has really upped the ante about how I am not only an exterior painter, the paint no longer sits on a flat surface. The paintings now also have an interior, one with which I am striving to learn about and explore. There is not much written about interior painting at present. There are only a handful of painters I know of that deal with the interior. Granted from looking at their work, their interior is not the same as mine, there's is more a byproduct of the exterior, whereas my paintings are definitely dealing with that elusive interior space between the front of the painting and the back, which my new paintings also deal with. What becomes of the wall, and the space that became the back of the painting, never looked at by anyone who didn't have the painting in their hands. In my original Yarn Painting #1, the interior, like the rest of those painters, was hardly there. Focusing more on the surface, and exterior. I blocked out as much as I felt I could of it, and only gave a slight nod to the interior, by showing off the chassis. With the birth of the larger Yarn Paintings, the interior became inevitable and I began to realize it was something I needed to learn about.

01-15-2015

66 X 41.5 IN
167.64 X 105.41 CM
Acrylic on Acrylic Yarn on Painted Wood Chassis.

Left side interior detail.

The interior of this painting are really shown off in these pictures. You get the best sense I can give you in reproduction of how the light plays into the interior and finally onto the wall behind the painting. Click on the image to see a larger version so you can have more to enjoy.

These days I think a lot about Lucio Fontana along with Fabian Marcaccio. The two painters I feel were the first to explore the interior of painting.

Jeffrey

Brutal Whitness

Working on my second painting of 2015. I began in darkness, now I continue into almost absolute whiteness, augmented by Nickel Titanate Yellow. The texture in this particular painting is reminding me of Clyfford Still in it's jagged mannerisms. No more talking, time for the visual.

01-15-2015
66 X 41.5 IN
167.64 X 105.41 CM
Acrylic on Acrylic Yarn on Painted Wood Chassis.
 

 

Granted right now I do not have the space or wall for the nice painting on the white wall. The colors are exact, taken in daylight, no artificial bulbs to light the situation.

Please click to view the photos in the larger online format. Get in there and see it up close.

Thanks.
Jeffrey

New Landscape...New Year.

2015 has begun with some nice pleasant gifts unto me and my family. I will only be focusing now on this new painting. I wanted to get some photos done of it before I do it again on a white wall. But for now, you can really peek into what I am accomplishing in my recent paintings. Can't wait to show this off to people, I especially can't wait till this weekend when one of my paintings...10-20-2014 will be included in the new Sideshow Nation III exhibition subtitled CIRCLE THE WAGONS!!! The exhibition opens: Saturday January 10 6-9PM and runs through March 15.

01-03-2015
Acrylic on Acrylic Yarn on Wood Chassis with Aluminum Frame.
30.5" X 67" in
77.47 X 170.18 cm
Click on images for larger scale.

Thanks, see ya soon.
Jeffrey

Recent publications.

I present to you...Three online including one physical instance of the exhibition I am currently enjoying in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania at the Community Arts Center until September 28th. Writer Kathy Kunkel from the Times News came, did the interview, and got some wonderful pics too.

Here's the visual of the online version...

 

Thanks to Kathy Kunkel !!

 

Days before, local historian Andrew Leibenguth came out and did his own interview and took many pictures. There are quite a lot of large photos on his page that you can really glimpse how things went that day.

On the evening of the opening Andrew came by to document the opening. Including all from the city and the wonderful people behind TAIR and Faces of the World. Wonderful evening.

Thanks to all who came out for the event. 

Cheers.

Throne Suite +1

One of the ideas that came to me while in this giant studio from the Tamaqua Elks Lodge and the Tamaqua Artist in Residence Program, was to make a suite based on the positions of the thrones that used to be in this room for meetings. There are four Thrones, that includes the Exalted Ruler's Throne. The first painting I completed in the studio is Exalted Ruler. These are a suite of three paintings that symbolize the three lower powered Thrones in the room. There is a regal feeling to these paintings and I hope the message comes across in these photos. 

Each of the paintings is 48 X 36 Inches and is Acrylic, on Acrylic Yarn, on Acrylic Coated Wood Chassis. 

Enjoy.

 

Throne #1

Throne #2

Throne #3

 

 In the meantime between the finish of White Suite and the Throne Suite I made one painting

08-10-2014

Acrylic on Acrylic Yarn on Acrylic Coated Wood Chassis. 

Don't forget, September 13th is the opening of ELK PAINTINGS at the Tamaqua Community Arts Center.

 

White Suite

Sitting in the studio one day while working on what became Throne #1. I had a vision of a painting that wasn't immediately viewable at a distance, one that you almost might not even see. In this studio sits a far wall with two doors flanking it. It was here that the idea began. The original idea was a permanent painting to take place over the entirety of the wall. But alas, I knew this was a temporary space and the painting would not last. I didn't want that to happen at this point in my life. I then began to plot out a painting that would be movable like the rest of my work, but could be in a sense "camo" to the wall. Hence the idea of the white painting with white yarn and a white chassis. Once the first one was complete, I spent the next couple days admiring it, and thinking of doing a suite. After the 2nd day, I began work on the suite. I felt it had to grow to an amount that would really engulf the viewer, but would also be portable. One of my favorite sizes of paintings that I make is the 22X16" format. I love it's symmetry. Come check it out for yourself...

There is still a few days to see these paintings in their natural environment before they are moved to the Tamaqua PA Community Arts Center.

And please don't forget the September 13th is the opening of ELK PAINTINGS at the Tamaqua Community Arts Center.