Joseph Arthur, Painting, and Expression

I've been painting and drawing all my life, and as a child had work in some local galleries and public spaces. I regret that I haven't kept up with it as much as I would like, but here's something I recently finished in honor of Paul McCartney's 64th birthday... [picture of it was taken with a camera phone, so quality and size aren't accurate]



Most everything I draw or paint revolves around people -- no landscapes or abstract things. I have a hard time capturing those images, whereas I am fascinated by the emotion people convey in their faces and body language. Still, whenever I see really off-the-wall, imaginative works I get frustrated that I can't see the world that way.

Jay Sweet has a cool story about Joseph Arthur over on his blog.

Reminds me me of the poem Arthur wrote for Issue 15 (April/May 05) of Paste. It's my favorite thing we've ever published.

Painting might be impossible to write about
It’s a place beyond words from where it comes
It’s nature showing strange flowers
It’s a drug that obliterates the self
It’s a mirror in the spirit world
It’s where the shadows come out to play
It’s a shared hallucination
It’s dream made material set ablase in the night
Maybe it goes beyond everything else
Like playing a guitar without strings
It’s a place man meets God and says
What the fuck
I love to paint
It’s where I go to church.