A dear friend once told Jim that art is a portal of creation. He didn’t completely understand this until just recently, when contemplating his piece West Side.
“Its development was entirely unexpected. I was in the studio preparing a canvas one afternoon and Dan Ostermiller stopped by,” Jim says. Dan is a noted sculptor, a relative of Jim’s, and a member of the J Klein Gallery family. “When Dan visits we love to catch up on happenings in West Side, Acrylic on Canvas our lives and also view pieces that I am working on. Dan saw what I thought was still a work in progress and said he really liked it. He is an extremely accomplished artist and I value his opinion deeply.”
After Dan left, Jim went back to the piece and really began to examine it. It reminded him of a poster from one of his favorite movies, the musical West Side Story and in that moment, he decided to name it West Side. This piece happened very spontaneously, he says, admitting his surprise at how popular it has become. Examining how West Side came about led him to reflect on his artistic process as a whole.
“When I head into the studio I never know what is going to happen. Never. That’s what’s exciting; there are no rules or regulations, creation just seems to occur. As much as I wish I could make the artistic process come about, trying to force it never works. When my work develops, and I’m completely immersed in a piece, it’s as if time and space stand still. I feel as if another source is moving my hands and my body. My physical reality is pushed aside and a higher power is able to express itself through my hands,” he explains. “This is why I believe art stands the test of time and has lasted through the eons. It’s divinely inspired; it comes from another source. The painter, sculptor, dancer are just the instruments used to deliver the product for our earthly bodies to experience.”
Jim believes that inside each one of us is a Van Gogh, a Picasso, a Beethoven, a Helen Keller, and that the ability to express and create is inherent in everyone. “The trick,” he says, “is to find the avenue that works best for you to release it. To find your own portal of creation.”
West Side Photo courtesy of SubPlot studio.
West Side, 36×36, Acrylic