Figurative Paintings by Pete Sack News

Edward Hopper and Pearl Jam - Together Again

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:04:31 CST

Revisiting Past Favorites - Edward Hopper

The other day my friend Chris downloaded a Edward Hopper catalogue, which included his paintings, sketches and prints (185 images in all) and gave it to me. He was an artist that had a profound effect on me 14 years ago (to the point that I had planned a road trip based on 40 paintings of his that I wanted to see in person) but in the time since I haven't given much thought to. His ability to tell stories of loneliness and solitude through complex compositions connected with me at that time. But as I got older, my art and my art tastes changed as I sought out new influences to inspire/learn from. I may have gone down a different path artistically that Mr. Hopper in terms of subject matter and style, it doesn't lessen the fact that I am still attracted to his work and probably always will be.

Pearl Jam 20

This Christmas I received the documentary Pearl Jam 20 a band that had a profound effect on me in my late teens. But much like Edward Hopper, had fallen off my radar in the years since. Having grown up in Seattle in the late 80's and early 90's, hearing their musc always brings me back to that time, but I rarely went out of my way to listen to them (if it wasn't for radio, I probably would never hear them). And much the radar of societal coolness/awareness in the late 90's and 2000's, they fell off mine and I never had the desire to go search them out.

But much like recalling a past love, choosing only to remember the good time (the seminal songs that shaped me) and forget the bad times (or the questionable albums/songs they would produce through out their career)I found myself watching this movie and falling back in love. It reinforced my feelings for this band, their music and what they stand for. And even though I still don't listen to their music on the regular, it in no way diminishes what effect they had on me as a person growing up. And for that I will be forever grateful.

Being Ahead of the Game

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:23:56 CST

Fighting My Normal Procrastination Tendencies

For two shows in a row I have completed all new work with a month left to spare. For as long as I could remember, shows consisted of me waiting to the last possible moment to start, burning through daylight/coffee and finally hanging pieces that may or may not have been still drying. It worked for me, and always completing pieces in time reinforced this way of thinking.

Burning the Candle at Only One End

But now that I can see the benefits of spreading out the artistic goodness over a few months rather than cramming it in one-two months. One, the fear of not having enough work disappears. Two, the ability to show the best work possible becomes a reality. I can look at pieces objectively now that I have time to, make changes if necessary and even discard pieces altogether. Three, no more stressful late nights forcing a painting to come together. If i could find a way to adopt this mindset for the rest of my life, that would be awesome, but for now I will embrace it in my art and be happy.

Showing Up and Doing the Work

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:23:28 CST

My Simple Rule for Being an Artist

The past couple weeks I have been interviewed by college students about what it means to be an artist and more importantly, how to be a working artist. Trying to be realistic about this question, the simplest and most honest answer I could give them was to show up and do the work. It doesn't matter how ("starving artist" to carving out a few hours before/after a day job) you go about supporting yourself in order to make art, you just do it. Get over what you think an artist is supposed to do in order to be called an "artist", and just work. I was by no means the most talented of my fellow students, but after school I still stuck with painting because that's all that made sense to me and that came natural.

For a more in depth breakdown of how to be an artist, I found this piece by Austin Kleon to be on point.

New Year / New Work

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:31:57 CST

Working Larger

The past couple months have been spent painting larger pieces for a March show at the Mahler Gallery in Raleigh. As someone who has grown accustomed to painting small pieces, this is quite a transition. While the mediums and materials are the same (oil/watercolor on paper) are the same, it requires a different skill set and patience. The arm motions are bigger, the need to continually set back from the piece to view it as a whole become more frequent. The smaller pieces are finished in one setting, while larger pieces can linger for days/weeks before they can be considered done. This is where patience comes in, because by the time I start a piece, i'm already thining about the next one, so I have to force myself to focus on the project at hand and give it the attention it deserves, even if the days move into weeks.

Practice and Finding Juice

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:28:23 CDT

I worked for 4 months on my show at the museum and afterwards I was spent. Being focused on one thing for that amount of time and then "poof" it's done does take a toll.

This isn't new and I knew that I just needed to rest and not think about next projects/shows. So I decided to go back to painting from a live model to experiment and play. In short, to have fun and not worry about the end product, but rather take the time to grow. I painted a lot of crap. But within that crap I started to see mini breakthroughs, where i was getting looser with my paint application and building color/composition skills.

So now I am planning for a show in March 2012 at the Mahler Gallery in Raleigh. This little exercise in playing/having fun has got my creative juices flowing and ready for the next 9 months.