The Importance of Paying Attention: Notes From John Salminen
Finding a process that works for you is critical.
However, it’s not necessarily simple nor fast. Artists can spend years taking a bit from this or a bit from that and combining them all into the way they work.
Watercolorist John Salminen’s (Ep. 38) career has spanned 3 decades. And it was through hard work and paying attention to his own likes that he discovered how he works today.
INTUITIVE BEGINNINGS
Salminen’s start was in art school but it’s not necessarily where he got his education.
“This was back in the 60s,” says Salminen, “when there was very little what you would call education going on.”
When he finished his art degree with a teaching certificate, he went into teaching high school art. Having a full time job (and the accompanying paycheck) meant that he could pursue his own art in any way he wanted without worrying about if any of it sold.
“I only painted what I wanted to paint and what I felt I needed to paint. And it didn't matter to me if it didn't sell, which was a good thing because none of it did.”
Salminen kept running into the same problems over and over. If he did something he liked, he didn’t know why it had worked. And if he painted something he hated, he also didn’t know why it hadn’t worked.
DISCOVERING DESIGN
Two things changed Salminen’s artistic life and they are as seemingly unrelated as possible.
The first was volunteer t-shirt designs and the second was crossing paths with fellow Michigan artist, Cheng-Khee Chee.
“I only painted what I wanted to paint and what I felt I needed to paint. And it didn't matter to me if it didn't sell, which was a good thing because none of it did.”
-John Salminen
At the high school, Salminen being the art teacher, was often asked to do volunteer design of things like t-shirts and posters.
“ [It] was an invaluable experience.” says Salminen. “I had ultimate creative freedom and I learned a lot of technical processes. “
The experience was invaluable because it forced him to begin thinking about design.
The second was signing up for a watercolor class at the local community college where a local University librarian was beginning to establish himself as a well known painter and was teaching classes.
That instructor was Cheng-Khee Chee.
Salminen joined with another teacher and they continued to take six consecutive quarters with Chee.
“It was just a marvelous introduction to watercolor. And it's the lessons I learned there are the lessons that I still use, every time I sit down to paint.”
FINDING HIS PROCESS
Salminen is an artist who credits those who taught him. And like all artists, he is a mix of his mentors, guided by his own preferences.
Chee really taught him the importance of design and composition.
From Frank Webb he learned to draw for detail.
At the time, Salminen would go to the docks of the Great Lakes harbor and draw the ships and grain elevators. He’d draw for information, then turn his back to the scene and draw his impression of the place. He’d do a few value studies and get painting wet into wet in his studio.
“It was just a marvelous introduction to watercolor. And it's the lessons I learned there are the lessons that I still use, every time I sit down to paint.” -John Salminen
At the time Salminen says he was trying to be a fast and loose painter.
“I wanted to be able to do paintings in under an hour.”
But slowly Salminen realized that it was the details of both his subjects and in his process that drew his interest.
“As my work got more and more complex, drawing became unrealistic because I would have to sit on location for hours doing the drawing.”
Reluctantly, he switched to photography. But he found two benefits of the change. All details were recorded and he could jump to his second stage of composition sooner.
“It forced me to look a lot harder for composition.”
He’d bring the photographs back into his studio and sort them through the contact sheet on his computer screen.
“It's amazing when you're looking at a postage stamp size, you know immediately what's a strong composition.”
DISCOVERING WHAT WORKS
Each stage of Salminen’s process is relatively slow. The days of wanting to be a California fast and loose painter are far behind him.
His drawing, even when he projects it, takes up to two days. We don’t talk about it in the interview, but I know from his other work that he uses a bunch of frisket that takes time to lay in and let dry.
“It's amazing when you're looking at a postage stamp size, you know immediately what's a strong composition.”
-John Salminen
What takes the most time is the time he gives himself to really look at his painting as it progresses. He’ll put it up over the TV and look at it to see what it needs.
But there’s another kind of time that Salminen has given himself. It’s the kind that is measured not in hours but in decades. He found great teachers and then listened carefully to what they said. He listened carefully not just to decide what to take but also what not to take.
Painting is a deeply personal pursuit. There are many voices sought and unsought but the only one you really need to listen to is yourself.
Salminen’s art is a great example of what can happen when you do.
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