| HF Exclusive: Kevin Peterson: Slumbody Loves You |
| Written by Nathan Spoor | |||
| Saturday, 18 July 2009 09:55 | |||
|
These days it's truly a unique experience to run into an artist so passionate in his pursuit of the work that he doesn't even bother to put up a website or who runs the self-promotion gamut. So it's with a great deal of excitement that HF readers get a special view into SoCal artist Kevin Peterson's latest work (currently on view at Varnish Fine Art in San Francisco) as well as his thoughts on subjects near and dear to his heart. In a very honest and unique show of transparency, the artist lets us in to his studio, his life and the San Diego neighborhood he's watched grow up and gentrify in the last few years. Join us now as we take a little tour through this most talented and personable artist's world. 
So tell us a little about yourself: Are you a Southern California native? Have you always been a creative sort? When did you begin painting, and then when did you begin to take it seriously as a large part of your life? Well, I'm a 5th generation California native, it's safe to say I know nothing but burritos, good weather, and palm trees. I live in the downtown area called Sherman Heights with a cat/ racoon named Jezzebelle. I guess I've been "creative" all my life - started drawing when I was around 2. I drew a helicopter... mom still has it on the fridge. I started painting during college at LCAD (Laguna College of Art and Design) around 2003. I wasn't learning a way to paint that I was comfortable with, so I taught myself with bit's and pieces from school over a summer. It was a trial and error sort of thing, but I was pretty determined, I saw it as the only way I could make "respectable" art. Up until that point I was only doing ink drawings and working with colored pencils, but they didn't have the staying power that painting did. I couldn't control paint like I could ink, so it was a long hard summer, until something clicked and I fell in love. I think that was the moment I started taking painting seriously. I was just really excited about this new medium to tackle. I found myself wandering around breaking down how to mix colors I saw like a mental patient. 
I think I've always been really interested in my environment and people that surround me, and it's something that I hold near and dear to my heart, as do most who have pride in their community and neighborhood. It has been kind of an underlying theme in most of my work, it's not always spelled out for you, but it's in there somewhere. The new paintings are some small portrait's of most of my neighbors, store clerks, taco shop masters, homeless, graff writers, friends and enemies, everything that makes a neighborhood worth living in. Along with that I have some large and medium size pieces that are more involved. 
Lately, I've been on a vampire schedule: bed at noon, up at 6pm, during the middle of the night everything stands still. Emails, phone calls, everything. Time really does slow down when it gets dark. 
I don't usually keep a sketchbook. I lost a really good one on a train ride back from Sacramento one year and haven't kept one since. I drawn right onto the board, work an under-painting up a little bit, and that's about as much planning as I do. I like to keep it a surprise, sometimes the whole concept changes, sometimes I don't even know what the concept it when I start. This makes it rough to just "bust" these paintings out, as of now I chip away at them working the colors up gradually. I'm hoping that the older I get that I'll become more decisive. 
I'll just say the loose narratives, inside jokes... leaving things open ended helps people to insert their own story into a piece. 
Man.. um coffee, family, friends, my environment ... Good music helps out a bunch. I'm a big Bukowski reader. Seeing what others create really inspires me to not be lazy and to stay diligent. I get distracted easily. You've gotten a respectable amount of ink work added to your physical collection over the last few years, what are the highlights of your current skin roster, and do you have anything intricate or exciting in the works? I have one full sleeve on my right arm, and 3/4 of the left, both from hand to shoulder done by an artist I went to school with at LCAD named Jason Dugan from Texas (He's a pretty bad ass oil painter also). Both are "freehand," meaning he just went at it with no plan, just a discussion in the chair. Since I'm right handed, my work arm is full color, the left is black and grey. I also have both sides of my neck done by San Diego artist/ male model Adam Hawthorn (Honkey Kong) out of Guru Tattoo. As of now, I'm woking on a chest piece from tattoo artist/ painter Jesse Smith from Richmond, Virginia.> 
Oh man....I'll just say you can tell when an artist is painting/ creating what he/she truly cares about, other than that, to each their own. What's important to one, may not be important to another, with that being said, sometimes it's really gimmicky. Some choose to prey on the insecurities of the viewer making these obscure post modern paintings, while others try to fill a market niche creating work that is safe and cute, created solely for lunch boxes, t-shirts, and pencil holders. But for the most part, there are tons of focused, innovative, and determined artists out there. There are more talented and creative individuals out and about nowadays then ever before. All you have to do is look at the amount of galleries / magazines / websites dedicated to this specific "scene." This little art market wasn't like this 10 years ago, and now look how many there are. The competition between galleries is awesome too, a real testament to the fan base. I just think it's more important to focus on the artists than the gallery owners as far as publicity goes. 
I'd like to design an entire building, interior and exterior. I wanted to be an architect when I was young, until I discovered I'm terrible at math and a bad employee. I would also like to maybe someday live in the tower of a castle, or maybe an underwater community of some sort. As far as means go, I would like to basically just do exactly what I do now - paint all day everyday without having to worry about student loans, world destruction, and where to get a decent meal. 
I still haven't been to far out of the country, so yes. I would like to move to Spain or maybe somewhere in Northern Europe. It's part of growing older that really makes a guy want to explore not only your own country, but others too. It's a right of passage. You really want to make sure you're not passing up on opportunities before you die. 
I wouldn't necessarily call it a career (laughing generously). I do what I can to makes ends meet. In order to do what you love sometimes you have to make sacrifices and get on a hustle. I do freelance design, illustration and commissions. These aren't the most gratifying, creativity-wise, but they pay the bills. Every once in a while you get a good project, with a director that understands the way you work and lets you go ape shit. These are problems that everyone faces, and making an otherwise uninteresting project shine is where having an imagination comes in handy. My grandpa reminds me that at least I'm not digging a ditch in the sun somewhere, busting up concrete, or swinging a hammer somewhere like he did. Not to say that design isn't fun sometimes, but it's not painting. It can be hard switching from brush to mouse. It's a different mindset. 
I would love to eventually, I think I'm getting better at painting year by year. Oils are rough! I have the same problem as many painters seem to have, where all I see is the mistakes and not the positive aspects of a painting. I'm getting better at the whole keeping track of stuff, getting good pictures taken, process shots, sketches, etc. I would like to make some prints in the near future and get my site up and running this month or next. If there is a call for a book from me I would gladly start working on getting my proverbial shit together. I wish I had the brain to switch between master marketer and promoter to painter. As of now I'm just focusing on cultivating ideas and making them tangible, so if there are any publishers that have a patience to spare and some faith, page me or send out a smoke signal. 
I would say make art that is important to you and only you. Focus on your craft, and let your personality come out in your work... just keep busy. I'm the last person that should be giving advice. In fact I could use some myself. I can only speak from the limited experience that I have as a painter: just make sure it's what you want to do for the rest of your life because it's not a weekend hobby. And if was easy everyone would be doing it! Painting will ruin your social life, relationships, posture, your perfect tan, your professional sports career, sleep schedule, perfect attendance record, and diet. So make sure your in it for the right reasons and the long haul. 
      
|
Our RSS Feed
Volume 10
Volume 9
Volume 8