Meet the Artists of February's Free First Saturday: Part II

By Rachel Kimpton.

This is the second part of our artist interview for February’s Free First Saturday.

On February 2, we have a few fantastic local artists making their way to share their styles and methods of painting. These artists will be participating in the Art Lab activity in accordance with that day’s opening of the Walker Art Center’s newest exhibition, Painter Painter. This exhibition focuses on the development of abstract painting and the role of both the artist and the studio space. For the activity, visitors are invited to observe and talk to the artists as they work, then use that inspiration to create their very own painting.

To get you pumped for painting, we asked each artist to share a brief bit about themselves, their work, and their space. In part I of this blog, we heard from Betsy Byers, Kate Fartsad, and Eric Syvertson. Here are answers from the last 3 artists of the day: Tara Costello, Joonja Lee Mornes, and Jehra Patrick.

Tara Costello

Tara Costello’s paintings examine unfamiliar spaces and the emotive power of the interplay of forms. She uses layers of Venetian plaster and raw pigment to build up and create uncanny spaces in which viewers are called to find unexpected beauty in the relationships between rich textures and primitive marks. Costello aims to create spaces with variable contexts and perspectives, some hidden from sight, and some starkly unconcealed. Above all, her work is based in the desire for formlessness and the search for unforeseen possibilities.

1. What’s your favorite part of your studio?

My favorite part is losing track of time while painting.

2. What non-traditional tools do you use to paint with?

The non-traditional tools that I use to paint with are venetian plaster and a trowel.

3. When did you know you wanted to be an artist?

I knew I wanted to be an artist when I was ten, and had just won a poster contest for The American Red Cross. I had drawn a helicopter dropping a ladder to a person in a forest fire. There were 4 age groups, and I noticed that all the posters with a blue ribbon on them all had drawn helicopters. I wanted them to like the drawing more than the picture.

Joonja Lee Mornes

Joonja Lee Mornes is an Asian-American artist who grew up in Seoul, Korea. She holds a Master of Arts degree in painting and has almost ten years of experience teaching art to college students and young adults in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Her other professional experience includes working more than twenty years as an architecture and landscape architecture librarian at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Mornes draws inspiration from watching the nature in various light and seasonal phenomena. Her imagined landscape paintings harmonize her past memories of rice fields in Korea, and present moments of the prairie with changing seasons and light.

1. What’s your favorite part of your studio?

The studio is a place to be alone surrounded by my work, to review whether or not the works reflect my experiences and emotions successfully.  It’s a place leading me to go forward and a place to think, read, work, and nurture myself.

2. What non-traditional tools do you use to paint with?

I am not sure if it is a non-traditional tool or not, but I use color shapers with rubber tips along with brushes.  I also use house painter’s sponges to lay the thin layers.

3. When did you know you wanted to be an artist?

I always admired artists when I was a child and wished I could be one, but it was not until I came to the US and pursued my college education in art.  It was one of the best decisions I made for my life and career.

Jehra Patrick

Jehra Patrick is a visual artist who works out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her current project questions art’s promotion, and the artist’s reciprocal relationship with the museum, by investigating museum collections, archives and spaces, selecting images to repurpose as the subject of paintings and photo-based work.

1. What’s your favorite part of your studio?

Having a space designated for art-making. It is a space separate from my other art activities; when I walk in the door, I’m there to paint! So much of my art practice is laptop-based: reading about shows and artists, researching for concepts or images, updating my materials, applying for new opportunities, working with digital images – by contrast, it’s great to have a place that is expressly for painting. The space itself, I like because it is a neutral, white backdrop for envisioning my work on gallery walls. I’m grateful for it’s natural light and I always welcome the smell of linseed oil when I open the door.

2. What non-traditional tools do you use to paint with?

Regarding materials, I’m a pretty traditional painter; I work with brushes, paint and traditional mediums. I will divulge a little studio secret though – I’m quite thrifty and I purchase most of my materials at Home Depot and Ace Hardware. Rather then shell out $100 for a 2″ wide natural or synthetic brush, I just buy $2 brushes from the hardware store – they’ve become my favorite tool for large fields of color and blending! And if they get cruddy after several uses you can just toss them. I also use a digital projector rather then sketching out my compositions. I find it to be a really efficient way to maintain accuracy. I’ve also used it to project my source images to determine the scale of paintings yet-to-be-made.

3. When did you know you wanted to be an artist?

In all honesty, I’ve wanted to be an artist since I was probably 6 or 7. As I got older, I wasn’t sure it would be a viable option – though I continued to produce work – it seemed like artistic success was a game of odds. It wasn’t until the past 6 years that I came to the understanding that artists are in charge of their own careers; you have to want it, and you have to follow up, otherwise it doesn’t happen. So, I reaffirmed that I’m going to be an artist, and now I’m doing just that.

You can join these three artists on February 2 in the Art Lab. Joon will begin at 10:30am and paints until 1:30pm. Both Tara and Jehra will be painting from 12:30pm to 3:30pm. This is a great opportunity to witness artists in their creative process!