The Artist behind Phillips Art.

"Self Portrait".
A 9 x 12 pencil drawing done on Bristol vellum

This piece is a sketch I did that was to be a study for a self-portrait that I had intended to paint. I have still not gotten around to doing it!

Before I left Barbados I was contacted by a student from a Secondary School requesting information about me. This was for a project that he was doing at school regarding local artists.

I am now going to share with all of you the information that Roscoe requested.

Question 1. - What is your medium?

I paint on stretched canvas, white and black, and I use acrylic paints. I use canvas because of its archival nature. A well-primed canvas painted in either oil or acrylic paint will last for hundreds of years without significant deterioration. I want my work to be around long after I am gone.

As for the paints. I use a professional quality acrylic paint. Acrylic paint manufacturers like Liquitex, Windsor-Newton and Reeves all manufacture both student quality and professional quality paints. Again, because I use vibrant colours and I want these colours to last, only the professional paints have the levels of pigmentation that will do this.

I very seldom use oils. My studio is at home and the solvents used are toxic and not very healthy when inhaled over a long period of time. There are times, especially when doing portraits, that oils would make my life a lot easier because of the longer drying time. For example, acrylics dry within 15 minutes, oils in about 4 days. Therefore oils give you a long time to manipulate and adjust colours, tone and values while acrylics will require you to apply many layers of paint to achieve your finished piece. Plus my studio is air-conditioned and not well ventilated.

Question 2. - What inspires your art?

This is an easy one. Life. I paint what I see every day. Most of my work is from photos I have taken as I drive around Barbados. I love this quote from the genius;

“We artists are indestructible; even in a prison, or in a concentration camp, I would be almighty in my own world of art, even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell.” ― Pablo Picasso

Question 3. - What is your favourite subject?

This is a much more difficult question. I have no favourite. I paint what I am in the mood to paint. The only time that I vary from that is if I have a commission. And, since I only take a commission that I really want to do, there is never a case of me not enjoying it.

Question 4. - What is your process?

The photograph that I used as
a reference for the sketch above.

I approach every subject differently. For portraits, where capturing a likeness is essential I will usually work from a photograph. I prefer to take my own photos so that I am sure that I will have the detail I need to produce a finished piece that truly represents the subject. I would on occasion use a grid method to help with the original sketch. Scenes with people will require a sketch in pencil, chalk or charcoal to make sure everything is in the right place before I begin painting whilst landscapes and seascapes I will start painting directly on the blank canvas.

While painting I listen to music. Usually, old reggae or calypso from the 70s and 80s. I work mainly in my studio but on occasion I may do a little "plein air" (outside onsite), sketching. My studio is closed up, quiet, and not very well lit. This is a technique I learned from another artist. A dark room forces you to unconsciously use brighter colours. Therefore, when your paintings are displayed in normal light they are so much brighter than if painted in natural light.

Question 5. - How did you become an Artist?

I honestly don't know how to answer that. From the time I was at Primary school, I enjoyed drawing. When I reached Secondary school I discovered painting. I then bought my own cheap watercolours and started painting at home. I remember, when I was about 11 years old, an elderly Canadian gentleman by the name of Mr. Case,  came to the house to collect my mother for work and saw some paintings that I had done.

He offered to buy me some paints if I painted some pictures for him. I agreed and he bought me my first set of oil paints. I did 4 or 5 paintings which he framed and they hung in his house. My mother's house smelt of turpentine and linseed oil for weeks afterwards! Years later, after he and later his wife had died, his family, who did not live in Barbados, decided to sell the house. My mother had worked for the couple for all the years that they had lived in Barbados and the family told her to take whatever she wanted from the house as they were going to sell everything. My mother took all the paintings that I had done. They now hang in her home. In fact, it was not all. One was missing. It was one of a champion racehorse that Mr. Case had owned in Canada. My mother told me that he had taken it back to Canada to be hung in his old horse racing club! Maybe it is still there today.

Question 6. - Where can we see your work?

I am currently not displaying my work in any galleries. You can visit my website, www.phillipsbajanart.com or my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/phillipsbajanart. I find that I am being asked this more and more and I will be speaking to a few galleries in the coming months about displaying some of my pieces.

“The job is what you do when you are told what to do. The job is showing up at the factory, following instructions, meeting spec, and being managed.
Someone can always do your job a little better or faster or cheaper than you can. The job might be difficult, it might require skill, but it's a job.

Your art is what you do when no one can tell you exactly how to do it. Your art is the act of taking personal responsibility, challenging the status quo, and changing people.

I call the process of doing your art 'the work.' It's possible to have a job and do the work, too. In fact, that's how you become a linchpin. The job is not the work.” ― Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

As always, thank you for reading, I appreciate the comments and the kind words of encouragement. Until next time when I will share some more of my work with you, please leave a comment.  And, I will really appreciate if you share this post with your friends. To make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right.

Mark Phillips

Artist
Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com
Website:-www.phillipsbajanart.com
Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore