Two Women, watercolor on panel,
30 x 22 in.
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Skip Lawrence's 7 Things
1. My Parents
At the risk of sounding like a football player who knows he is on television and feels compelled to shout, “Hi Mom,” I will have to risk it and say, “Yea Mom.” My mother and father were perhaps the most important influences in my life as an artist because of their encouragement. My parents grew up in a time in which making a living was all-important. For them to encourage me to pursue art was somewhat of a miracle for which I will be eternally grateful. My mother had always dreamt of being an artist and her dream, though unrealized, certainly helped pave the way for me to follow my dream.
2. Natural Talent
I must admit that I believe more in nurture than nature. I will, however, admit to being blessed with good drawing skills from a very early age. You remember that kid who, from 3rd grade on, was called on to draw everything for every bulletin board and science project? When this happens, you quickly get the reputation of being “an artist.” This undoubtedly had a significant influence on my feeling of self worth. I was an artist. I was separated from the crowd by virtue of having a “talent.”
3. My High School Art Teacher
We often read of a successful person having a guru in their life that made all the difference. For me this person was Morris Green, my high school art teacher. Mr. Green challenged me daily to learn the basics of making art while keeping an open mind to anything and everything that was, is, and could be. His acceptance and enthusiasm for the art of the past and the future made me take off the blinders that could have led to a narrow range of art appreciation.
4. College and Philosophy
I entered college as green as spring grass and quickly learned that everything I had held precious was negotiable. The Maryland Institute College of Art stated up front that they would provide the environment in which art could grow. What Morris Green began was now being offered to the 10th power. Art was about ideas rather than craft. This was near the end of the influence of Abstract Expressionism. It was the time of conceptual art, earth art, op art, happenings, Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup Can and Christo’s Wrapped Coast. Everything was to be challenged and nothing held sacred. The conflict for me was then and is now that I loved the feel of paint pressed against canvas. Painting was supposedly dead but I still loved doing it.
5. A negative influence – watercolor
From 1966 to 1972 I taught art at the high school level. As anyone who has taught in the public schools will confirm there is little time in your life for anything else. It was at this time that a fellow teacher suggested I try watercolor painting as a quick and clean alternative to oils. This was fun, requiring little thought and offering the chance to get outdoors. In those days the subjects were proscribed. You simply painted one of the seven “B’s” (boats, barns, bridges, bottles, bodies, boulders, and lighthouses). After a year of experimenting on my own with watercolor, I decided to get some professional advice. My choice was an American watercolor icon, Edgar Whitney. His art instruction was dogmatic, loud, and most importantly filled with rules upon which to build a painting. For someone floundering to find his way, Ed was perfect. He taught design as a science. If you follow the “laws,” you are sure to find success. This influence, while comforting and rewarding, ultimately led to recipe results. I give Ed credit for his inspiring lectures born of his beliefs. I know that my challenge was to find my own beliefs and approach to painting.
6. The day I went back to painting and forgot watercolor
At that time, and, unfortunately, still, you either belonged to one camp or the other: watercolorists or painters. One evening, on my way to the village of New Harbor, Maine, I saw an image that changed my thinking about painting. The shaft of light streamed across the road in front of me was so compelling I felt I must paint the sensation. Returning to my cottage, I quickly painted the intense color and value of the light. To achieve the luminosity I wanted, I found myself painting with watercolor paints as I would with oil paints. The physical sensation of the thick, rich pigment recalled for me what it felt like to truly paint rather than “watercolor.” I was back in college smearing paint in search of something that felt good, looked good, and was not about technique and design or limited to the rules of one type of paint.
7. Artist/Friends
By continuing the exploration that my high school teacher, Morris Green started by constantly looking at good art, whether it be in books, museums, galleries or magazines that focus on contemporary art trends, I try to keep an open-minded curiosity about what I see out there. I surround myself with friends/artists who challenge me. Having people around who likewise seek to create art that is honest and personal helps me “keep it real.” I am grateful for those friends who keep the bar high.
William "Skip" Lawrence is an artist and a teacher who has spent his life pursuing what he loves - art. He earned his BFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art and his MFA at Towson State University, Baltimore. In the coming months, he’ll be teaching art workshops in Maine, North Carolina, New York, Maryland, and South Carolina. Skip’s art instruction is also available through his DVDs and through his magazine, The Palette, which he co-authors with his friend, Christopher Schink. He makes his home in Mount Airy, Maryland. To learn more about this artist, visit his website:www.skiplawrence.com.
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