Rose DesRochers Exclusive Interview with Artist Jonathon Earl Bowser

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Rose DesRochers

Throughout today’s art world, Canadian artist Jonathon Earl Bowser is as respected as his art is admired. Jonathon describes his unique figurative-landscape paintings as Mythic Naturalism – images looking for the mysterious poetry of which the natural world is made. It is my pleasure to present my exclusive interview with Canadian artist Jonathon Earl Bowser.

Hello Jonathon, let me say that it is a great honor to be doing this interview with you. Tell us a little about yourself, your family life and where you are from?

I grew up about an hour east of the Rocky Mountains, and so large and dramatic landscape has always been an integral part of my life. My family consists mostly of professionals; I was a bit of an oddball in such company, but their discipline and intelligence certainly inspired and influenced my creative development. My wife is also a professional, a veterinarian, and her determination always keeps me motivated.

How and when did you decide to become an artist?

I am temperamentally unsuited for any other endeavor. Like a world in orbit falling through the elliptical impression in space-time made by the host star, an artist is trapped by the gravity of something beautiful and mysterious at the center of their existence. Such things do not choose to follow one path instead of another; they come upon the only path that is available to them and follow it because it is their ineffable, inevitable nature to do so.

Which artists do you most admire, or who has most influenced your work and why?

There are many painters whose work I admire, but my favorite is the American landscape painter Thomas Moran (1836-1926). To my eyes, his vision and technical skill are beyond compare; his paintings are so awesome it hurts me to looks at them.

Among all your works, do you have one that is your favorite?

Among my works there are a few that I think come close to touching that transcendent mystery that inspires my work (like “Parsival’s Lament”). But the real answer is, “the painting I will do next!” Each painting fails the original vision in some detail, and so I always look forward to the next one, hoping to see a little farther, a little clearer…

Some of your work was used in a book without your permission. Would you care to tell us a little more about that?

According to a May 25, 2001 article in the New York Times, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein published a novel, Zabibah and the King.

According to a related article in the Boston Globe, Mohammed H. Radhi Al-Saffar, the Charge d’Affairs for the Iraqi Embassy in Ottowa, Canada, said it was “impossible” that this book could be in violation of copyright law; but, as unbelievable as it may seem, the unauthorized cover art of Mr. Hussein’s novel is, in fact, “The Awakening”, an oil painting I created in 1998 – an image which has been published as a limited-edition print, and for which I hold the registered copyright.

It is difficult to know exactly how to respond to such an unbelievable story, and so I suppose I am perversely flattered and simply appalled. Perhaps I should feign a righteous indignation, but the real truth of the matter is that I have not suffered from Mr. Hussein’s actions; nor have I profited from them. And so what remains is an absurd, ridiculous story about an infamous tyrant who likes the work of an unknown painter of peaceful, mysterious women.

Where do your ideas come from for these paintings?

I don’t really have a good answer to that question. I am trying to understand the meaning of the world, and communicate some of the truth I think I have found. But I also believe that everyone gets a bit damaged in their experience of the world, and that damage inevitably affects our perceptions of it. And so art is, I suppose, a fleeting glimpse of something Eternal and Beyond…seen through the broken glass of the artist’s life.

Do you get such things as artist’s block? I know as a writer, I’m stumped some times for creativity.

I often get intimidated by a difficult design problem or technical challenge and in such circumstances I tend to look at the painting much harder than I actually work on it, but I really don’t get creative block: I already have more ideas than I could paint in one lifetime…

Who has been the biggest influence in your life?

My parents, who taught me to respect hard work and fear mediocrity; Carl Sagan, who taught me about the astounding universe of our perceptions; and Joseph Campbell, who introduced me to a new universe of transcendent magic, inside which the cosmos of our perceptions hides.

Are you a self taught artist or did you go to school?

Well, I went to art school, but I already knew how to draw better than my instructors. And as a school with an emphasis on the avant-guard, their aesthetic philosophy was inimical to my own – yes, I am a self-taught artist. I taught myself to draw starting at age 8, and paint starting at age 18. As a younger painter, I very much wanted the opportunity to study with a master in the art of traditional painting; that never happened. An apprentice may save years in training, by avoiding unnecessary mistakes; in my own circumstance, I think I always knew I needed solitude for my creative development. I still wish, on occasion, that I could paint with the effortless virtuosity of some of the masters I admire, but upon sober second thought I realize that the content of my images could only have come into existence after long years of introspective contemplation. I am content with the bargain I have made. My imagery is uniquely my own; the students of Rembrandt were better painters than I, but they cannot make the same claim.

Each artist has their own distinct techniques. Is there a particular technique you use on a regular basis?

I think I paint in a fairly traditional way, but I do approach design in a unique way – I am not aware of other artists who make such emphatic use of the dynamic-static dichotomy. What makes my work unique is its representation of a tangled, churning world of change revolving around an eternal and divine tranquility.

Have you ever thought about teaching?

I don’t really have time for that…

What advice can you give a young artist?

Inspiration is easy so don’t worry about it; concentrate on your craft. What could be more sad than possessing the cognitive ability to imagine the Sistine Chapel, without the requisite skill to achieve it? Learn the fundamental skills and inspiration will naturally follow…

Jonathon thank you for doing this interview with me. Where can one go to see your wonderful art?

Jonathon: For the time being, the best place to see my work is on my web-site at www.JonathonArt.com ; thank you for your interest in my work

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