painting Archives - John Gerstner

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camel and female in surreal landscape

The Artist as Mad Dervish

John Gerstner

I start with the flailing of a mad dermish. I smear, splash, scrape, wipe, dribble, draw … all the while blending colors and strokes until something says that’s enough. There’s something there. Let it be. Come back to it later. I do. Invariably I start to see shapes and patterns emerging through the chaos. Looking closely […]

woman gazing abstract

Facing the Blank Canvas

John Gerstner

For an artist, there’s nothing as daunting yet exciting as facing a blank canvas. The possibilities are infinite; and so are the risks. My approach is to simply make some brush strokes or marks or splashes of paint and see what that triggers. I try to keep the process an in-the-moment improv dance between eye, […]

Two abstract characters in a purple, blue and yellow background

Painting Is Like Boxing

John Gerstner

Painting, to me, is like boxing. The canvas is the ring where you throw jabs of paint to see what lands. It’s about staying alert and in the moment, just acting and reacting. You might start with a vague fight strategy, but all through the first rounds, you just keep hearing the taunts: “Is that […]