By Jonathan Burger, Craven Arts Council & Gallery, Inc.
Where are you from and how’d you end up in New Bern?
I was born outside of Washington, DC and grew up in Norfolk, VA. (Navy brat). In the mid-eighties, I taught part-time for ECU while Ann was finishing up. For one of those classes I traveled to Havelock via New Bern twice a week to teach a Continuing Ed course. I fell in love with this city at that time and always thought it would be lovely place to live. I was right.
Does your artwork have a central theme, or several themes?
My work has several themes. I love to work from life, places that we frequent and love, like the ocean and parks or even out in the back yard. I’ve always enjoyed painting still lifes that are arrangements of objects that represent a sense of place. I also like to paint people that I meet and admire. These are most often based on photographs that I take, or what I call favored photographs (either my or someone else’s favorites).
You were an arts educator, what relationship do you see between your teaching and your personal work?
Well, I am retired, so there is no longer a connection with what I do in the studio now and teaching. When teaching drawing and painting, I felt that there was the obligation to cover the full spectrum of the various media, styles, skills, and history. My studio work at that time covered a lot more of mixed media and experiment, not always, but sometimes focused on objective drawing skills, etc.
You work primarily in watercolor, what about that medium appeals to you?
I may not be able to accurately describe what it is about watercolor that makes it so special to me. “Watercolor has many voices”. This was something that Frank Webb said in this short one-day workshop that I attended at Cheap Joe’s. I knew then that I liked this guy. Watercolor has an aesthetic that I believe is different for every enthusiast. So, for me it’s a personal feel, a passion that I have for the aesthetic. You can’t teach that.
Your wife (Ann) and daughter (Hannah) are talented artists in their own right. Did you come from a family of artists yourself?
Yes. My father had significant talent in drawing and painting, but never developed it (he was a career Navy weatherman). My mother could have easily taught college level jazz history. My two older brothers were musicians, one of them made the guitar his life’s work. My younger brother is a writer and has been part of a second wave of New York poets for over 40 years. One of my younger sisters is an incredible photographer. I have a cousin who was a dancer in New York before she took up writing.
Who is another artist who work you admire or inspires you?
You were kind enough to already mention my wife and daughter above, who share a studio with me – and are eternal inspirations!
One of my best friends Ken Ritter from DC has taken up watercolor for some time now. Outside of his professional career as a senior interior architect for Gensler and his love for photography, Ken is a signature member of both the Baltimore Watercolor Society and the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society. He is an inspiration to my whole family.
What one piece, award, or exhibition are you particularly proud of, and why?
I think that I am happy anytime I get a painting accepted into the Watercolor Society of North Carolina’s annual exhibit. It’s a fascinating group with tremendous talent. But being proud? Probably when I successfully exhibited my work at the Wellington B. Gray Gallery at ECU to complete my MFA requirements back in 1985!
What advice do you have for artists just starting out?
Keep working. It is the only way that you are going to get anywhere. Show up for everything. Everybody has something that they can teach you; it’s up to you to figure out what that is.
In one sentence, what is art to you?
Art is the outward expression of individual insight, be it visual, musical, writing or poetry, dance, cooking, etc.
I know you’ll be having an exhibition in the Director’s Gallery at Bank of the Arts for December, but where else can people find your work?
On line at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/garynem/. I haven’t had gallery representation for a very long time. My work doesn’t lend itself to venues of that sort.