I had the chance to take photos in a classroom at the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts while Vince Walsh taught a group of experienced painters. I'll do another post about Vince as a teacher, but I wanted to get some photos posted of the tools used by Vince and his students that day. I hadn't planned to take photos of the various brushes, paints, and other miscellaneous items that day, but it just happened. I love the randomness of the materials people make use of in their art and the look these tools take on as they get used and covered with paint. I guess the student artists in Vince's class have earned the nickname of the "Cupcake Ladies" because of their use of muffin tins to store their paint. I so appreciate the Cupcake Ladies and Vince letting me sit in on their class time. They are a fun group, and they have some beautiful painting tools. In the next post, I'll show a little bit more about Vince and his work as a teacher.
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About two weeks ago, I contacted Vince Walsh, a local painter and art teacher, to see if he would be interested in being photographed for this project. He agreed. When I asked if I could take photos of him in his studio, he said, "I have three studios: a room in my home, the classroom at the Grand Theatre, and the outdoors." Since he was headed to a plein air painting session with some other artists, we decided to start with the outdoors. We visited the Japanese Gardens at Micke Grove with artists from Tracy and Modesto. As we drove to the park, Vince told me how he got started in painting. He was a salesman for many years. I was surprised to hear that Vince didn't feel that sales was a natural choice for himself because I have always found him to be incredibly friendly and talkative. (He also has very strong opinions on a variety of subjects from politics to art!) One day, his wife wanted to buy a print for their home. He told her - despite having no art training - that she shouldn't buy the print because he could do better. Wish I had that confidence! He then went home and started taking art classes. His mentor is Van Waldron, who taught classes at community college, and recognized and encouraged Vince's talent.
I also had a chance to observe several other artists at work. One woman (pictured at left) is over 90 years old and going blind. She can no longer see most colors and struggles to put her observations on paper. I admire her tenacity and her willingness to put herself in an uncomfortable situation - she has to rely on others in group for transportation and has recently acquired a walker. Because he is also a teacher, Vince often made comments to me about what he was doing - how he starts with dark areas, for example, or how he begins with a limited number of paint colors and mixes new combinations on paper next to his "palette" made from a muffin tin. Vince realized once he started setting up his equipment that he had forgotten most of his paintbrushes. He found a couple of wide brushes, which led to the comment that "you can paint with a broom or a toothpick, but don't give me any of those toothpicks." Vince prefers to paint with a large brush and make loose, expressive strokes. He also feels that he couldn't paint without his spray bottle. He said, "I think I could paint with twigs as long as I had my spray bottle." It's so interesting to hear about the ways that artists create their own tools and what they find important. While Vince's tools and easel seemed to have been made from repurposed household items (still beautiful to me!), other artists had created portable systems that were almost pieces of art in themselves. I would like to thank all of the artists who let me join them on their outing at the Japanese Gardens. I'm looking forward to taking photos of Vince in his other studios - the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts and his home - in a couple weeks, so watch for those posts.
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April 2022
AuthorTiffanie Heben is a photographer who has been inspired by the artists in her community |