Rapid River Magazine: How did you get into painting?
Jeff Pittman: Well, my dad’s an artist, so I watched him paint as I was growing up, though I never gave it a try until moving here to Asheville in the late 90’s. I remember some failed attempts when I was younger, mostly drawing or sketching, but it wasn’t until I added color that things seemed to come together.
Shortly after moving here to the mountains, I picked up a basic set of acrylics and gave it a half hearted try. A few years later, I took an oil painting class at AB Tech. I really liked the way oils blended, and the colors I could achieve in this medium, and my work began to improve. I’ve been at it ever since.
RRM: What does color mean to your work? Do you use it symbolically?
JP: I really just like eye catching color. I’ve always enjoyed the brilliant skies we get here in the mountains. The late afternoon or early morning sun shining on the buildings downtown also lend themselves to bold, colorful paintings.
RRM: What is your daily painting routine? I understand that often much time is needed before you’ll consider a painting finished. However, your paintings never seem overworked. Can you tell us something about your painting process, especially with how you keep the painting fresh over time?
JP: First of all I don’t paint every day, which is nice, so I don’t get burned out. I’ve got a busy family life with three school-aged children to keep up with, too! But on the days I do get to paint, I try to go to the studio with a clear plan so I can start painting right away. That is, have my idea sketched, and canvas primed and ready to go. I like to be efficient while I’m there.
Sometimes I’ll be close to finishing a piece but have to leave soon, so that makes me hurry a painting along, and that can actually add to the spontaneity of a piece. But sometimes, the hardest thing about a painting is knowing when it’s finished.
RRM: What are you working on in your studio right now?
JP: I’ve got a couple of projects going right now; one is a triptych landscape that I just prepared the canvases for. It’ll be a large mountain vista of some sort, but I haven’t quite figured out what view yet. I’m hoping to get up on the parkway soon and scope out some new vantage points.
The other is a commission project, two vertical 40×60″ paintings that will flank the entryway in a newly remodeled home out in Fairview. We’re still in the planning stages, but once a clear direction is set, I’ll be busy working on those; maybe I’ll paint them side by side at the same time!
RRM: Can you describe your studio space and how, if at all, that affects your work?
JP: I’m in a fairly large and open studio space with a warehouse door that opens right onto Roberts Street. Its nice to get some painting done while also being open to the public. I’m getting used to talking people and painting at the same time.
I used to paint in a garage studio space at home and could only work on a piece in small increments of time, but now being at my studio in the River Arts District, I’m able to concentrate on a painting for longer periods at a time, which helps me complete a piece usually while the paint is still wet. I much prefer the wet on wet method as opposed to painting in layers, which is another reason why oil paints suit me best.
Jeff Pittman Studio
140-D Roberts Street, Asheville
In the heart of the River Arts District, across from the Wedge Brewery
Hours: By Appointment (828) 242-8014
www.jeffpittman.com