Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gary Palmer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Gary, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
I grew up in Belfast during the years of the conflict. After completing an MA in Architecture at the University of Edinburgh, I travelled the world as a street-painter, with few possessions and a box of chalks. I was invited to participate in festivals for 3D perspective work in Europe, Australia, and the US. I came to America as an immigrant in 1996. A book of my drawings was published and that helped me set up my studio practice. I worked as a muralist on MTV music videos and movies on location in the Caribbean while developing my independent studio practice.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
my studio work is varied and diverse. I like to invent new ways to paint so there are many quite different series of work in various media over the years. Perhaps the best known is the Journey to Zanzibar series based on travels in East Africa from the banks of lake Malawi to the island of Zanzibar. That work is published as a series of prints by Fathom Gallery, and has been collected by Jamie harris, Halle Berry, and Catherine Zeta Jones, among other notable creative talents. Another series ‘distilled landscapes’ in sumi ink were the subject of a solo show with Tarryn Teresa Gallery, as were ‘Particulate Fields’ a series of meditative colorfield paintings. My studio was based in Venice for many years and I participated in the annual venice artwalk studio tour – a benefit for the Venice Family Clinic. I’ve also done public artworks for some local non profits such as Venice Community Housing and Friends of Ballona Wetlands.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Spending many years traveling with few possessions and working on large scale public drawings that wash away in the rain has taught me to focus on the process of creating the painting more than the finished object itself. I think this in a way has helped come to terms with losing my home and work in the recent fires in Los Angeles. There’s an alchemical aspect in art that brings about transformation that interests me. I think the creative impulse can bring about some level of healing after tragedy or loss we encounter in life.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The socio-political street paintings in particular the mandalas were intended as a form of creation of a secular sacred space, open to all colors, cultures and creeds. They were a statement about connected nature of humanity.
More recently since the loss of the artwalk studio tour in venice, coupled with the sudden rise in rents many of the artistic community had to let go of studios and move away. In the following years I began a project in south of France to create a studio to work but also a kind of retreat for other artists to find an inspiring, peaceful, and stress free environment to continue their work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.garypalmerart.com
- Instagram: @garypalmerart
