If I ever hit a wall, I sit quietly, breathe deeply, turn down that part of my inner voice that tries to get me to concentrate on expectations or regrets. Then I just open a sketchbook and start to doodle - no plan, no expectations. I let my inner voice take over and direct me. Something always develops.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
Nothing in my background suggested that I would follow the path that I did - except that it was always my improbable dream to become an artist and architect. I grew up in rural America on a large working farm.
But I lived in a world of books on art and design that my grandmother provided. And I developed a love for drawing - designing new worlds for myself - that I liked living in better than the one that I had.
2. What inspired you to pursue art and architecture?
Since the age of 5 or 6, I was obsessed with drawings and paintings that I found in books about architecture and art. Sometimes I think that I loved the images - the ideas - of buildings and people and of the world - more than anything.
Like many kids I suppose, I felt that I was born in the wrong place and time. So I gained joy and inspiration from imagining other worlds to which I might escape..
3. What is the main aspect that compliments the beauty of architecture?
It took many years for me to realize that the real beauty of architecture - of the man-made world - was not the objects, not the actual buildings, but rather their context. A building only comes alive when you can experience it in it's setting.
It is the interaction between the man-made and the natural world that give any building life, light, joy, and purpose. And any building is only as successful and as valuable as the people who live in it, work in it, or interact with it over time.
4. What were the ideas behind writing a book and what is it about?
I have written three books. The first - Architecture in Watercolor - was a modern and historical study of the expression of architectural ideas through the medium of watercolour. I explored the ways in which this fluid, expressive medium could bring life and emotive tangibility to otherwise remote and technical subject matter.
My second book - The Art of Architectural Drawing - was a study of the creative impulse. Why do we want to draw in the first place? And it was a look at the value of quickly transferring ideas to paper in the most expressive and immediate way possible.
My new book - Architect of Light - is a look at my own artistic development. But moreover, I hope it offers tools to help readers to develop their own ability to produce authentic paintings and to find and listen to one's own unique artistic voice.
5. How do you overcome a creative block?
Creativity is a well that never truly runs dry. We are sometimes less able to see it, but it is always there. I think we all throw up blinders and hurdles to stop us from our own development.
If I ever hit a wall, I sit quietly, breathe deeply, turn down that part of my inner voice that tries to get me to concentrate on expectations or regrets. Then I just open a sketchbook and start to doodle - no plan, no expectations. I let my inner voice take over and direct me. Something always develops.
6. Who is your favourite artist and why?
I have many - most not in the world of painting. But among painters, I suppose that Mark Rothko is my favourite artist. His ability to transcend representation altogether and silently explore pure light, expression, emotion, and spirituality is unmatched.
7. What message would you give to aspiring artists?
Generally I say that the best advice I could give an aspiring artist is to not take too much advice. We all want to excel, to become our best selves. But the more we listen to others explain to us what that may be, the steeper our climb can become.
I don’t think it wrong to listen to those whom you admire, they may well have some valuable insights to share. But ultimately, it is far more useful to listen to yourself. We all have all we need inside us to become most fully who we are meant to become. Trust that voice. Hone your listening skills. It knows which way it wants you to go better than anyone else.
8. Which is your favourite book and why?
So much of my work is inspired by what I read - far more than from what I see. So this is a difficult question. The collective works of the poet Wallace Stevens are always a wellspring of ideas. But as a book, perhaps Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino is one to which I most often return.
It is a difficult book to describe, but among other things, it weaves together so many themes that recur in my own work: reality and fantasy - the man-made and the natural world - the possible and impossible - the past, present, and future - the nature of cities and collective living.
And overall, it focusses on the ways in which what we create act as a mirror to inform us of not only who we were, and who we are, but who we might become.
Interviewed By - Anshika Maurya
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