Jesse Reno Class

Wow. I spent the day in Jesse Reno's one-day class at OFFCenter (tomorrow his 2-day class begins...) and it was exhausting and envigorating. I knew I was in for a change of pace and a jaunt beyond my comfort zone, and I looked forward to that. I didn't, however, expect Jesse to be so wise and authentic. My skills in painting and drawing, well, suck loudly and I didn't expect to master anything today. I did, however, come away with 3 small paintings I thought were the best I could do under the circumstances, and I'm happy with them... sort of. I'm even happier with what I'll take away with me, which was lots and lots of insight into a devoted artist's creative process.

hibrination by Jesse Reno

I liked the way he worked improvisationally and built up the compositions in layers, some translucent and some opaque. It reminded me a bit of Holly Roberts though she works in oils over her photographs, and he paints his first layers with his hands.

And btw, score! My 13-YO loves his work too and wants to go check it out in person tomorrow. We might bring his BFF, who loves to sketch. Wait till I tell them Jesse paints decks (skateboards for ye of my generation). 8-)

I was chatting with Miz Sarah tonight and sent her the link to Jesse's website while we chatted. Here is a quotation that I really liked that I think illustrates the depth of the insights he gets to in his creative process...

desire over understanding
it is more important to want something than to know how to get it - magic - there are many illusions attempting to confuse themselves as truth - so many things to keep track of - so many things so important - he did not need a headdress as he had grown his own feathers - they brought him a phoenix

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