Robert Spooner

'Obsessive curiosity' is and has to be the driving force behind any creator. That concept best describes what fuels my work. Art cannot create itself, it needs a person with drive and self-motivation. My art is not about any one approach, but is more about pushing and experimenting with various elements and techniques. The discoveries I make along the way are what enable me to grow as a painter and fuel my desire to become a better artist. 

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Seeking new avenues of expression, I found myself visiting historical subjects based on my study and understanding of my own family history. Heartland, farming, ranching, and the personal subjects of humanity that came before us have been my inspiration for the last few years.

 

While direct painting is a simpler solution to recreating a visual subject, indirect painting has no such simple solution. It follows a relatively unknown path, which involves a balance of visual and compositional approaches to arrive at its outcome. Direct painting starts with the subject and through various techniques generally arrives with a representational facsimile of that subject. Indirect work may start with a visual problem and the solutions are found only after trial after trial of technique, application, destruction, recreation, and any other forms of execution to arrive at what may be a non-representational solution —one that only the artist him/herself may understand. 

 

This second combined (indirect) method is more often the approach that I focus on in the visual journey. Often I take from both, the drawing of a representational subject (direct) combined with the complicated layering of indirect methods. Together, they are visual breadcrumbs that propel me daily. Not knowing where the path leads is always more exciting and motivating than traveling a crowded, well-worn road.