Sponsored by the St. Louis Artists' Guild, the Paint Out was held in June of 1997. The prospectus sounded intriguing to me. For one week, artists would create work in the park. All 2-D media were allowed. At the end of the week, the works would be judged and some would be selected for an exhibition the Guild's gallery.
It sounded like fun so I signed up and made my plans. I'm not into painting or drawing so I decided to enter in the photography category. I'm a novice photographer and I really didn't expect to win anything but I knew I'd have fun and get some much needed experience in the process.
For some time I've been interested in building little "props" and "sets" and photographing them. The Paint Out seemed like a good opportunity to try some of that. Pretty pictures of fountains and Art Hill are just not my scene. The week before the event I made various shapes and objects to photograph. I used many different materials and techniques, including rubber stamping and collage on mat board, air drying clay with paint, water putty and spackling paste over found objects, and painted construction paper. My friend Mark sometimes collaborates with me and he made some paper "paramecium" shapes and some less easily described plantlike objects.
One of my favorite themes in my art is the passage of time. Forest Park seemed like a good place to pursue such a theme. The grand structures and views in surroundings which are in places crumbling, overgrown, and decayed never fails to become for me a metaphor for the decline of a once - great city. By placing abstract shapes in that setting I was hoping viewers would see them as either artifacts from an unknown time, or visitors, or perhaps new structures that grew out of the old. I wanted to collaborate with what was already there and see if I could make my shapes interact with the features of the park. I succeeded in creating abstract compositions that I was very pleased with. I don't know whether I succeeded in expressing my ambitious themes. I am definitely going to do more work in this vein in the future. The shapes I made are small so I can bring them anywhere.
For those not familiar with Forest Park, here is a photo of the World's Fair Pavilion. The following three photos were executed on the stairs and walkways below the structure.
Looking at these pictures, I can still recall how hot it was that day. These were taken between 11:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M. on a 95 degree day in full sun. Not the best time to work but it was the only time I could fit it in. I had to lay on my stomach to get some of the shots and it was a good thing I had a towel with me to spread on the ground, or else I would have burned myself! I could hear kids swimming in the fountain as I worked and man, I was tempted to join them.
My next location was across from Post-Dispatch lake. I found some sewer lids that just cried out for my shapes.
Two days later Mark came with me and we worked at the base of Art Hill. Here are a couple of photos of Mark working. Don't these pictures make you want to come to St. Louis and see the park?
That's the Art Museum in the background. In the next photo you can see the World's Fair Pavilion in the distance.
The next two photos were composed at this location.
A combination of Mark's shapes and my shapes.
I used a yellow filter on this one to try to make it more abstract. I had it enlarged later and I forgot to tell the people at the photo lab that the yellow color was intentional - and they removed it! The water here was actually thick with rod - shaped algae plants. It looked like soup! And it was probably almost as hot.
On Saturday morning we all brought our pieces in for judging. The show was held in a tent in front of the Art Museum. When the judge said in his opening remarks that his favorite artist was Norman Rockwell, I knew I was in trouble! Here are a couple of photos so you can see what the show looked like. Most people did normal landscape paintings.
Well it was fun. If they have this show again next year, I may do it. Thanks for looking!
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