Almost
two years ago now, I got the wonderful opportunity to interview an artist whose paintings often make my heart catch in my chest. Quite
a bit has changed in his world since that time, and he's graciously
agreed to let me interview him once again with a whole fresh batch of
questions. So without further introduction by me, here is a second
interview with John W. Shanabrook, complete with some of his more
recent work to illustrate the post:
1.
I write "Once Upon a Time" type stories about the dream
life I long for. What would your "Once Upon a Time" consist
of?
A
small, bright, and quiet house on the shortgrass prairie of Eastern
New Mexico.
2.
Can you give me some insight into where your wonderful titles come
from?
That’s
a good question, Julia, especially because I don’t really know.
It’s a little mysterious, a little ghostly. I think of my mind as
wandering through an attic of association and implication and
feeling, picking up and discarding odd objects and remembrances and
quotations and words until what it holds in its mental hands are,
suddenly, resonant and poetry.
3.
The places you paint, are they memories, places you've read about, or
just from your imagination (or a combination of all three)?
These
landscapes are essentially what my heart makes of what I’ve known,
of what I might long for, and of what sometimes happens unexpectedly
at three in the morning.
4.
What do you think people would be surprised to learn about you?
Five
years ago, a medical school in Ohio offered me a place in their class
of 2010.
5.
Do you have any artists you're currently admiring?
I
don’t know why it is, but admiration’s something I’ve never
been very good at.
6.
Where do you spend time online? What sites do you gawk at or read, if
any?
I
try to stay away from the Internet for entertainment, using it only
for my painting and for buying things I need. I’m not always
successful, but it terrifies me how much time I can spend online to
no real purpose otherwise.
7.
What's your favorite season and why?
Summer,
to be sure, because summer is warmth and warmth is freedom. There’s
certainly more poetry in fall, winter, and spring, but there’s not
as much life.
8.
What is your favorite book?
This
is a question I could never answer. If you were to ask me to name the
one book I’d take with me to a desert island, I’d probably just
ask for paper and pencil so I could write my own.
9.
Do you work in any mediums besides oil? Is there any medium you've
wanted to try?
Just
oil. Oil paint and words. I don’t know which I’m better at.
10.
You said you didn't start out being an artist, tell me about what
made you try painting. What made you stick with it?
I
tried painting because one Christmas a very good friend of mine named
Margaret surprised me with a packet of panels and a clever little
painting box of Winsor & Newton paints and brushes. I stuck with
painting because I’m a terribly sedulous and persevering and
stubborn soul.
11.
It's hard to find much about you out there—is the mystery
purposeful or just coincidence?
It’s
pretty simple, really. All my life I’ve stayed out of the world.
12.
What else should people know about you or your work?
My
landscapes often surprise me into liking them. They sometimes seem to
know far more about the world than I do.
Find more of John's Work here:
Website:
jwshanabrook.com
Seminary Road on Etsy:
seminaryroad.etsy.com
Wordpress Blog:
jwshanabrook.wordpress.com
Previous Interview Here.
And a huge thanks to John for being kind enough to take the time to answer my questions.
