"Bryn Mawr" An Artists book

These abstract landscape paintings-on-paper were completed in 1994.  They never made it to mats and frames so binding them into a book seemed a good presentation.  The geometric designs bring everything up to date with the current portfolio.  Designs are all based on hexagons, and are incised into the painting's surface, then peeled off to reveal clean white lines.  

"The Aesthetic Persist"

 Art is a long strange trip.  Pay attention because sometimes it doubles back on itself.

Art leapt forward after nearly 50 drawings in the surrealist “Emergent Image” series.  Number 48 had potential to go further....

Investigation was required. A rendering of the original image streamlined its edges and accentuated the lovely central black shape.  The new drawing looked like a lovely mid-century ceramic sculpture.  

Check out those edges!

This idea ran its course after a few iterations and it was time to return to the series work with so-so results.  But the potential of the "Open Vessel" drawing...time to return for another rendering. 

(bean emergent image)

Flushing out those curves a little and working out the shading…but so what?  Hmm...What if the edges changed?  Another rendering.  Even worse. 

(first two rendering)

But then that wrinkle pattern itself was more interesting than the original shape.  What if the veins were included?  Oh YES.

What if the image were mirrored like a Rorschach print?  Aha.  From nearly 4 dozen random automatic styled drawings into meticulously rendered, highly ordered, intentional imagery.  Some with veins.

Ooh, surprise! Relates to artwork from the early 1980’s, who would suspect?

 

                               Persistent aesthetic!

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"Emergent Images"

"Dream Girl," 2019 Enamel wash and gesso on canvas, 7" x 10"
James Thatcher  2019  copyright

The diminutive “Dream Girl” begged for a larger version.  Replicating textures on a large scale is a recurring issue in the studio.  This was no exception and it has led to a new body of artwork.  

Using hay on a very wet surface would cause a paint wash to gather around the hay and would theoretically result in a frost-like pattern that might approximate that background texture.

Not so much.  But pouring more paint over that experiment created such an interesting result that I didn’t need the girl’s portrait anymore. 

"Dream"  2020  Enamel wash and alfalfa on canvas, 44" x 66"
James Thatcher  2020  copyright 

The question of how to get that frost-like texture continued to puzzle me.  The next attempt was crumpled paper with an added wash.  The way the wash gathered in the wrinkles created wonderful possibilities for free-style composing.  

All other ideas have been banished. 

Success caused me to prepare dozens of crumpled and washed papers to draw into during the coming days.  

Forty papers.

The “Emergent Images” series currently stands at 30 pieces which measure 7” x 10”.  There are a few additional quarter-sheet works.

"Emergent Image #3"  2020  Enamel wash and pencil on paper, 7" x 10"
James Thatcher  2020  copyright

"Emergent Image #10"  2020  Enamel wash and pencil on paper, 7" x 10"
James Thatcher  2020  copyright

"Emergent Image #16"  2020  Enamel wash and pencil on paper, 7" x 10"
James Thatcher  2020 copyright

I look forward to creating drawings using full sheets (22” x 30”) as this series moves forward.

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"Disarray"

I’ve chosen to paint this portrait on banana box liners because they’re so awful.  They are stained, crumpled, and gross.  They reflect the nastiness with which we serve the poor and are symbolic of the way we care for people in need.  

James Thatcher  Copyright  2018

This liner paper is the cheapest available.  They come out of the boxes so rumpled that I have to iron the paper to make it possible to use.

I choose to paint with primers instead of “artist colors” for similar reasons.  Gesso is not intended as a finished surface.  It is cheap, stark, and dry looking.  

Allowing the brown paper to show as an extra color follows the rationale of using rough materials used to depict a rough situation.

Filling in the painting according to plan, but then...

But the real moment of this project happened because of the brown paper.  The head's structure had become confusing. Where did the hair begin and forehead end?  

It was awkward so I decided to only use the four center panels of the face.  As I continued to work on this cropped center section I had to move a panel aside to keep paint from getting on it.  

BREAKTHROUGH!  It looked fascinating.  Then I added back several other panels crookedly which distorted the child’s face.  

Consider the awful reality of a young disrupted life and the people we’re creating.  Disintegrated, unstable, disorderly, chaotic…what was I thinking by lining up those panels so fastidiously in the first place? 

"Disarray", 2018, 84" x 60", Black & white gesso on banana box liners.
James Thatcher  Copyright  2018

Order is contrary to the form and content of this image.   This portrait became terribly expressive and more troubling by rearranging the pieces.   

Success came in a moment and the painting finished quickly.  Stay mindful.

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A Pacific Northwest Portfolio

I volunteer at a regional food bank in southern Oregon, which supplies local agencies rather than individuals.  We’ve had difficulty recruiting volunteers because of this.  Part of the problem is that we do not communicate who we really serve in our facilities, hence to prospective volunteers.  

I’ve begun a project of photographing recipients at the nineteen food pantries and community kitchens served by the United Community Action Network (UCAN) food bank in Douglas and Josephine Counties, Oregon.  

"Hunger", proposed as a billboard poster, 7' x 14', digital file
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

The idea behind this project is to communicate who we really serve, those in need, speaking their untold stories in the facilities where we serve them.  

Let’s humanize our facilities in order to more effectively engage those who are considering  volunteering with us.

Installation proposal, 24 units, each 20" x 16" x 10".

What if it were presented with a pallet of Campbell's Soup,
to be donated to the food bank after the exhibit?

Banana boxes are the ubiquitous containers used to ship, transfer, and distribute food in Oregon, and are an organic choice to support this imagery. 

The nature of “boxness” comes into play constantly:  what goes inside the box?

This portrait featuring Campbell’s soup draws a clear art historical reference, as well as a social reference to soup kitchens from the Great Depression, and a regional reference to the Campbell's Soup production facility just south of Portland, Oregon. 

"Shelf Stable", 2018, 19" x 35", Black and white gesso, latex paint
on reconstructed banana boxes, Campbell's Soup, rope light.
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

While conceptually astute, I maintain a studio for my practice.  It’s a practice that is hands on, technical, and sometimes messy.  I draw, paint, build, sculpt, and install, exploring materials and processes, often eschewing archival stability. 

Cardboard is not archival.  Each banana box has seen multiple cycles, and has become stained, stickered and worn.

"Relief", 20" x 16" x 60", 2018, banana boxes with florescent light. 
What if several filled a space?

There is nothing pretty or glamorous about feeding the hungry.  It’s urgent work with individuals who are sometimes emotional, sometimes desperate, sometimes unwashed.  The need is now, forget tomorrow and its worries. 

Archival, really?

"Food Insecurity", 2018, 96" x 80", Black gesso and latex paint
on banana boxes, stapled to loading pallets.
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

However, moving moments can be had in the midst of serving this population….  

Meeting the woman in Roseburg who shows up at 9am and stands, waiting for hours until the doors of the food pantry open at 1pm, so that she can obtain produce.  

The grateful couple who accessed their local pantry in Reedsport for years, who have now begun volunteering there.  

I met an elderly man in Myrtle Creek’s food pantry who was a long-distance trucker, and through it became disabled with sciatica.  

It’s caused me to be very conscientious about how I handle food during my volunteer shifts.

These are the faces of normal folks:  kids, moms, grandparents.  Who can afford not to be compassionate?

"The Light Shines Through Our Imperfections", 2018, 40" x 48",
Black and white gesso, latex paint on banana boxes
stapled to a loading pallet, two florescent lights.
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

Art as social practice necessarily confronts.  

This project began as a critique of UCAN’s lack of communication, while providing a solution for it.  This portfolio expands the discussion about food insecurity in our region, it promotes the Oregon Food Bank (located in Portland), and seeks to enlist viewers into the cause. 

Change happens one heart at a time.  That includes mine, swept up and renewed in the service to others.  The abundance of this heart expresses itself in artwork that promotes compassion, encouragement, and hope.

  

Custom Campbell's Soup can label, 8" x 4" nominal dimension, 2018, digital file.
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

Join me as an agent of cultural evolution.

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Biography as Art Practice

In 1982, one of my professors at the Corcoran College of Art & Design, Washington, DC (yes, that Corcoran) said that you could sweep the studio floor and put it into the artwork I was making. 

 

"The Spirit of Myth", 2004, 88" x 66", Latex Enamel, dirt, kitty litter, & wood chips on canvas
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

It was 15 years before I actually did that, but the essence of the comment was about making artwork that used the stuff of life as a medium.  This concept has led me to embed tree branches, bark, and leaves, or hay in paint, and employ parts and processes from a 24-year career as a cabinet maker into decades of artwork.  

"Chiaroscuro", 2015-18, 48" x 72", Latex enamel, hay, bulrushes, kitty litter
on plywood panel.  James Thatcher  copyright  2018

Detail, "Chiaroscuro", 2018, latex enamel, hay, bulrushes, kitty litter on plywood panel.

Installation view, 2014-18, acrylic on canvas.

But the 2008 financial crisis forced a retirement from cabinet making and changed everything.  I joined the staff of a missions-based ministry that I’d been volunteering with in southern Appalachia.  We did mission day trips every week, where I experienced the necessity, the power, and the joy of serving “the least of these.”

Now, 10 years later, I have reconnected with that passion as a volunteer for the United Community Action Network (UCAN) food bank in Roseburg, Oregon.  This portfolio is based on that volunteer work, both emotionally and by “using the stuff of it” as a medium.

  

"Portrait Box", one of 4 sides, 2018, 20" x 16" x 10",
Black & white gesso, latex paint on banana box.
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

"Portrait Box Rotation", 2018, Black & white gesso, latex paint on banana box.

"Food Insecurity", 2018, 96" x 80", Black gesso & latex paint
on deconstructed banana boxes, stapled to loading pallets.
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

The food distribution system, from the Oregon Food Bank in Portland, to UCAN, to the food pantries and recipients in Douglas County, relies on banana boxes as carriers.  As such, banana boxes are the natural choice for a substrate, along with loading pallets, to depict issues of food insecurity.

Proposed Installation, 24 units, 20" x 16" x 10"
Black & white gesso, latex paint on banana boxes
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

This portfolio speaks of my personal history in exploring art materials, of hands-on ministry, of experience in food distribution, and passion for confronting food insecurity. 

"The Light Shines Through Our Imperfections", 2018, 40" x 48"
Black & white gesso,latex paint on deconstructed banana boxes,
stapled to loading pallet, with two florescent lights.
James Thatcher  copyright  2018

My biography is reflected directly in my art practice.

http://jtnwdc.wixsite.com/jamesthatcherarts

Portfolio Spread

Construction Study, 2014, 96", Latex Paint on Pine

"Hypar w/2 Equations", 2015, 14" x 7", Acrylic on Canvas

"Blue Braid 1/30", 2016, 16" x 8", Acrylic on Drywall Tape

Study based on Norwegian Architect, Soren Korsgaard, 48", Pine

"Curabola Layout Study", 2017, 24" x 24", Acrylic on Canvas

"Curabola", 2017, 24", Pine

Hyperbolic Paraboloid,18", 2017, Welded Steel w/Powder Coat Finish

"Oblique Tetrahedron", 2017, 36", Welded Steel w/Powder Coat Finish

"Red Bodice", 2017, 48" x 36" (2 panels), Acrylic on Canvas

All artworks © James Thatcher

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Above the Noise

Lately I have had passionate conversations at art events about feeding the hungry.  My work as a volunteer with a food bank has re-kindled my passion for the cause.

After working in a mission based ministry in North Carolina I understand the spiritual drive to feed the hungry and serve the poor.  By serving “the least of these” we are serving the Most High God.  By ignoring the poor and hungry we ignore Him.

Homelessness, hunger, and generational poverty are pervasive in the Pacific Northwest.  My artwork doesn't communicate anything about this.  What's up with that?

"Migrant Mother", 1936, Dorthea Lange; Collection of the Library of Congress

I’ve been working with geometry, algebra and trigonometry for several years.  It makes sense after 24 years in the cabinet making field.  

But there is a more excellent understanding.

The hexagons, hyperbolic paraboloids and octahedrons that have captivated my attention since 2013 are technical works with clean finishes.  Geometry is an idealized imagery that alludes to higher realities.  

These artworks refer to the peace of God.

Consider Elijah’s experience of the whirlwind, the earthquake and the fire.  Despite the tumult he found that the Lord was not in them.  It was the still small voice that was the Lords.  (1^st Kings 19:11-12)  

The disruption, chaos, and turmoil didn't contain the Lord.

We are moved emotionally by what we see and become swept up in our circumstance, our society.  Then we express ourselves out of the abundance of our heart:  anxious, angry, afraid.... 

Our circumstances can blind us to the ever present, all knowing, all powerful God.  We are reminded that those things which are seen are temporary and that the unseen things are eternal. (2nd Corinthians 4:15-18)

"Single Red", 2017, ©  James Thatcher

Clean lines, concise edges, and sequenced colors are an expression of faith and not the world’s noise.

Pine study based on the work of Scandinavian architect, Soren Korsgaard; © 2017

  

I’m keeping on.

http://jtnwdc.wixsite.com/jamesthatcherarts

Incidental Discoveries are Crucial

An artist does an awful lot of artwork in a lifetime.  Ideas overtake our imaginations and we rush on generating ideas, sketches, artwork and proposals. 

Ideation Drawing:  Hexagon Variations  ©  James Thatcher  2012

Use a “focus project” to concentrate on a single successful image from those labors.  Produce 30 identical versions with no variation in size, process or subject matter. This will stabilize studio output and concentrate your art making processes and effort.  

And it will generate a market of strong reliable imagery. 

I’m in the midst of the second focus project in the past twelve months. The first focus project was 30 small paintings, 8” x 10” each.

Transformation Hexagon  © James Thatcher  2015

© James Thatcher  2015

This second effort is sculptural and the discoveries are compelling. 

In a 2-D focus project you only have finished work at the end of the process.  Suddenly you’ve got 30 finished pieces.  The joy and beauty of this 3-D focus project pops up in unexpected places as assembled sections need to be stored.  

 Proposal for Public Sculpture ©  James Thatcher  2015

These incidental discoveries are crucial.  They maintain creative interest during the long weeks and months of production. You don’t want to break the momentum of your epic focus project but these ideas can also be works in themselves.

18 Corner Pieces, Bamboo  ©  James Thatcher  2015

So be sure to photograph and make note of your ideas.  Also consider making drawings and paintings of these various stages after completing the main body of work.  They represent a strong direction for future artworks and possibly your career.

Creating 2-D artworks extends the depth of your 3-D portfolio.  It’s a separate/additional body of work that supports your sculpture installation.  They provide a wall mounted display to accompany your floor display in a pre-curated collection.    

Model for Sculpture/Painting Installation  ©  James Thatcher  2016
(What if this were a giant outdoor steel sculpture with a digital billboard behind it?)

The question of whether one is a sculptor or a painter is not relevant because the relationship between your 3-D and 2-D images is so clear.  You present the artwork of one artist who uses multiple mediums to explore their ideas.  

Brilliant!

The dedication displayed by presenting your ideas in a volume of related artworks is impressive.  Your vision is clearly defined and explored at a depth displayed only by the most professional of artists.  

(Welcome to the big time) 

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