By Ron Evans
Local painter Sharratt DeLong brings a new collection of works to Collapse Contemporary Art Gallery in Wenatchee on Friday, August 6th. The show, titled “Stare Well,” will feature ten new paintings by DeLong all focusing on the still life that exists in the stairwells of the downtown apartment building where he lives and creates. We chatted with the artist about the synapsis for this show and his process for bringing it into existence.
Talk about this upcoming show and how you were drawn toward the still life of the stairs.
About a year ago I was searching for the subject of my next show. I hiked around taking photos of sagebrush (a subject that still fascinates me) and one day I begrudgingly took the stairs because the elevator was out. I live on the top floor of an old building and it’s a long hike to my floor. That day the light shone in through the windows and hit the angles and steps of this space and I just knew. Something spiritual emanated from these spaces and I felt the stillness and excitement that always tells me I’m on the right path. I then became obsessed and returned to the stairwells during different times of day and in different types of light. Each time I observed something new and subtle, and it reminded me of the way images are projected onto the inside of our eyes and how those images speak to us and interact with our constantly moving thoughts and emotions. It felt very touching and human to me.
Are you setting up sketching or painting stations in these locations or painting from photographs?
I used photographs for my references. I love using the tools of photography in my paintings. Photography helps me to compose and capture moments in time. I am always careful to capture color and value the way my eyes see them and if you know your tools well enough this is very achievable. For me photography is a wonderful resource and a process that has fascinated me all my life. These paintings were also too large to be painted on sight. Logistical things so often make artistic decisions inevitable.
Beyond just experimenting, do you have any influences you are inspired by concerning this particular style?
I think Edward Hopper has always been an influence on me, even since I was little and tried to draw. He captured a stillness and a light that feels heartbreaking and beautiful. There is a vast and intimate feeling to his paintings that has influenced my outlook on the world ever since. I think another artist who I could point to as inspiration for this show would be the Dutch artist Vermeer. He painted such lovely interiors where light poured in through windows onto characters who held such serene tones. I always found mystery and peace in his paintings. I find that combination of emotions to be quite lovely.
At first glance with the naked eye, a stairwell is a stairwell. But you find quite a bit of variation in these locations. How do you approach this type of composition versus something that maybe is a bit more shoot from the hip, or free form?
I feel that all the freedom and chaos that can be found anywhere in the world can be found in these simple spaces if you look closely enough. These paintings did require a level of restraint and discipline to create and I think that has more to do with following the emotions that inspired the original idea. I think for me it’s more about following an idea, than creating one as I go. That more “shoot from the hip” approach seems to create the idea as it unfolds (a plan to be unplanned). For me the shoot from the hip part of the process happens when I’m just living and going about my day. My thoughts and emotions, in tandem with the physical world, mesh together and then I receive a certain feeling. That feeling is so charged, and I instantly know that it’s something I don’t have words for, and I have to share it with others through art.
What kind of challenges do you find with taking something stark and interpreting it in an artistic manner?
To me, nothing is truly stark and there is always variation. I heard an anecdote from another artist that went something like this: “Painting that figure model is easy… painting the white wall behind them is hard.” A white wall is never white. It’s always reflecting endless variations of color from the elements around it. There is such subtlety in everything and it’s often the simplest things that contain the most variation and nuance. Capturing this quality proved the biggest challenge and most fun when creating these paintings.
Were you on the lookout for interesting angles and lighting, or did you mostly stumble onto interesting scenes and decide they needed to be captured?
The first moment of inspiration I stumbled onto it. But once that moment caught hold, I returned and looked for angles, light and composition that captured the feeling of this space more potently. Eventually I became pretty calculated when the light would be shining in and from what angles. I worked with the space and would wait to try different times of day and different light. All these moments felt unique and offered me a different feeling.
Is there a subject(s) you have yet to tackle but have your eye on for a future project or series?
I want to do a show called, “Saints in the Garden,” and have it in one of the orchards here in town some evening. I’m interested in the figures that we still hold meaning to as a culture. Who is it we hold up and admire collectively and why? I will select a list of figures from history (some actual saints and some not) who I find inspiring and then find people to model them for me so I can create about ten or so portraits that will be intimately lit and viewed in a quiet space in a garden setting or orchard somewhere. I think it would be a lovely experience.
I’m still fascinated with the sagebrush landscape here in Wenatchee and I think that would make for some beautiful paintings. I think going more towards an organic subject would be a good direction. I know it’s a pretty obvious subject for this area, but I’d love to try to paint the orchards in my own way. This area still feels like the nineteen thirties in many ways, and I often get images of detectives on the sides of the highways around here wearing long coats and fedoras... There are so many ideas and impressions swimming around inside.
IG: @sharrattdelong
