Williamstown Painter Finds Inspiration in Quiet Scenes
 Painter John MacDonald at work. The Williamstown artist is showing at the Harrison Gallery and Southern Vermont Art Center this month. |
Now the professional artist's paintings hang in private, corporation and museum collections throughout North America.
MacDonald, who lives in Williamstown with his wife, Deborah, recenlty gave us a glimpse into his life as an artist.
"Artists tend to be hypersensitive to the visual information in their surroundings," he said. "And so walking the streets of New York or walking through a shopping mall can be visually over stimulating for me. It's one of the reasons I prefer the quietness of rural living to city life."
Walking in silent woods and hills in Williamstown, he has discovered an endless source of natural scenes that inspire his landscape oil paintings. "I can paint within four or five miles of my home. It's not the subject matter that attracts me. It's the color relationships and the tonal patterns," he said.
MacDonald paints en plein air — on location — as well as from photos. Small location paintings often become studies for larger canvases. "Some years, I did meadows and fields, and presently I'm doing water [streams, rivers ...]," he said. "Whatever you paint, it is original if you paint with your heart."
He has an "itch" to go to the American Southwest to paint. "It's a different palette — different colors and forms."
In a separate studio 50 feet from his home, he immerses himself in creating art on a regular schedule from 8 to 5. "It's a hold over from my illustrating days when I worked 10 hours," he said.
As a student, MacDonald enhanced his natural-born talent through a formal education. He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in illustration from Washington University in St. Louis and a master of arts degree in painting from Purdue University in Indiana. At the Institute for American Universities in Avignon, France, he studied printmaking. Once he was out of school, he did both painting and illustrating professionally, but that changed when he became a father.
"When our oldest son was born in 1988, I left painting and for financial consideration, concentrated on illustrating for seven years," MacDonald explained, adding, "Illustrating pays the bills, painting feeds the soul."
Comparing illustrating to painting, he pointed out that in illustrating, a client comes to you because of your style so the most challenging part of an illustrator's work is consistency.
"In painting, I do not have a preconceived idea of what I am going to do and that takes me to an exciting level," he said. The flow of energy and creativity is so strong that when he is done painting, he needs time to settle.
The many-faceted artist also creates digital woodcuts, an art form in which the modern tools of computer technology is used. The digital woodcuts arose out of McDonald's commercial illustration style (working in the black and white medium of scratch board and adding color digitally) and out of his love of Japanese woodcuts. "I wanted to be able to explore the graphic, more decorative quality of landscapes without resorting to oils. I felt creating woodcut-like images would be perfect for this," he said.
In 2002, he brought his first digital woodcut to Jo Ellen Harrison, director of The Harrison Gallery in Williamstown. "I was very impressed by the originality of his technique and the quality/beauty of the imagery," she said. "He is such a talented, versatile artist. We encouraged him to return to oil painting, which he did in 2005.”
Since MacDonald resumed painting, his work has been exhibited in more than 20 art shows throughout the United States, and he has a true following of collectors.
In September, he was preparing for two shows: The Harrison Gallery from Nov. 5 to Nov. 30, and the Southern Vermont Art Center, Manchester, Vt, from Nov. 19 to Jan. 8.
"He is one of the most talented and popular artists here," said Harrison. "Not just because he captures the beauty of the Berkshires but also because of the unique balance in his paintings, which shift from impressionist brush stroke to loose realism."
In regard to impressionists, MacDonald said (John Singer) Sargent, (Andre) Zorn and (Joacquin) Sorolla y Bastida were exceptional draftsmen and their ability to draw with the brush enabled them to paint very loosely but also very accurately.
"As someone who strives to subtly suggest rather than overtly describe forms in paintings, I find their work very appealing," he said, adding he has always liked the work of George Inness, known as the American leader of impressionism: "He has been a creative influence." MacDonald's paintings are devoid of people and generally of anything that belies the pristine scenes. "I do not try to tell a story in my paintings, and as soon as you include the human element you start a narrative," he said. "There's a Zen expression, 'Do not put legs on a snake. Trust that the snake does not need legs.'"
The 53-year-old artist has been interested in Buddhism since he was in his 20s, and practices Buddhist meditation, but does not consider himself a Buddhist.
"The core of Buddhism is self-awareness, which is extremely important to me as an artist," he said and following some of it's teaching has made him "happier and more productive."
He always has taken joy in creating art, but he grapples with a tendency to overwork his paintings. "It finally comes to a point where I ask myself, 'Am I trying to reach a vision I am not capable of doing? Does it really need another brush stroke?'"
The unassuming artist is his "own worst critic." "I have done over paintings that were in art shows," he said, quoting Leonardo da Vinci: "Art is never finished only abandoned."
An artist's reception for MacDonald's new exhibit at Harrison Gallery on Spring Street will be held Saturday, Nov. 5, from 5 to 7.
