J Michael Gatlin
Arvada, CO
Welcome! I grew up throughout the west and southwest of America, and have learned to see the distinctive beauty of our world no matter where I find myself.
Message
The joy of being able to bring the beauty of the three-dimensional world onto a piece of paper has captivated Michael as long as he can remember. It began when sketchbooks replaced coloring books as a child, and was reinforced with art supplies set up right next to his grandmother’s easel in the attic of an old farm house in Tangent, Oregon.
He began studying seriously with the figurative watercolorist, James Kirk at Western Oregon State College. And continued with another great watercolorist, Irving Shapiro at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Illinois. Michael was also deeply influenced by the watercolor work of John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Sir William Russell Flint, Andrew Wyeth, Burton Silverman, Charles Reid, to name a few. It was with these mentors, and many more along the way, that Michael developed a strong love for and facility with watercolor as his primary medium.
One of the most impressive things about Michael’s watercolor technique is his ability to use a smooth surface, such as the Strathmore 500 series, one-hundred percent archival cotton, plate-finished, bristol board for many of his paintings. This smooth, barely absorbent surface highlights the natural fluidity of the medium. An expressive splashing of paint can often be seen in his under painting. While this surface also presents several challenges to watercolor, Michael’s experienced touch can easily be seen in the sometimes subtle and other times bold brushstrokes that make up his work.
Michael is not limited by subject matter, and continues to paint everything from vast landscapes to individual objects; urban and small town scenes; still life’s, portraits and figurative work—no subject matter is off limits. He’s just looking for a bit of beauty that captures his imagination. You’ll notice that he often works in a series of paintings as he’s exploring one of many themes: the reflective surface of water, for instance; or various objects he's collected along the way. or the laugh lines which have developed on the faces of his family and friends.
Michael’s work has been collected both publicly and privately since the 1980’s, and is a part of many collections throughout America and in the UK.
Corporate and Museum Collections include:the College of St Thomas, Counseling Center; IBM, St. Paul, MN Executive Lounge; and the permanent collection of The Minnesota Museum of American Art.
Michael’s paintings and drawings have also been used for many illustration clients including: an extensive advertising campaign for Lee Jeans; an illustrated book for Rapala Fishing Lures; Discover Card; and the PBS science show series, Newton’s Apple.
Statement
In my work I’m translating my experience of the extravagant beauty we see in nature, in one another, and in the artifacts which are a part of our everyday lives, onto paper using graphite and watercolor. Our encounter with beauty is often momentary, and fleeting. We notice something that catches us by surprise, and then, before we realize it, the moment passes. In my drawing and painting I’m working to capture that first spark, the original encounter and make it tangible for our ongoing engagement. I think beauty is an invitation into so much more, something unimaginably transformative.
I’m highlighting that my work, and our very lives are imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. I’m doing this through the medium I’m using—watercolor and pencil on paper—as well as through the loose precision of the way I’m using the medium. I purposefully approach my painting with a looseness that showcases the spontaneity of watercolor, while also exercising a precision in how I’m modeling the various forms. The tension of these seemingly opposite methods are key to my painting style.
I want to draw our attention to not only what we think of as traditionally beautiful, but also to the unexpected, overlooked and often ignored beauty which is always around us in each object, person, or place that we may not normally notice. There is, for instance, amazing beauty hidden deep in the well-worn laugh lines of that older person’s face we just passed by.