Joe Paquet Paintings 2017
Duluth/Superior Industrial Collection
Superior Mills, Duluth Hills 18" x 24" $8,900 - SOLD •
"A" Mill with Brooding Sky 8" x 12" - $3,400 - SOLD •
Rust and Reflection 8" x 12" - $3,400 - SOLD •
Bordello with Elevator 8" x 12" - $3,400
Industrial Plumage 8" x 10" - $3,400 - SOLD •
There is so much talent out there today. With the profusion of studio schools & ateliers quality training opportunities abound. Yet so much of the work amounts to well executed but often-soulless picture making.
Why is that?
Fear.
Add to this the power of social media and popularity by committee.
The combined weight of others opinions and successes can overrule our own.
Add to this the impatience for result and acclaim.
So we try and fast track our journey by supplementing our own organic search by substituting the solutions of others. We cobble together a quasi- idea of ourselves by wearing the clothes of others.
The collected result of this can lead to short- term acclaim but degrades the concept of originality on an industrial scale.
Delacroix said, “The student should develop well and naturally like fruit on a vine.”
Never before has that thought held so much weight.
May your work be organic and in season.
Industrial Harmony
Industrial Harmony in G (Gold) 28" x 40" $22,000
Painting outdoors is at its best a Living Experience in which the painting is informed by all of our senses.
Yet, for me the distillation of a living visual experience is best done away from the experience itself.
It is indeed an irony that facts can actually diminish a visual truth, but that has been my experience.
A dictionary filled with words will never be a poem.
My intention must be clear and singular.
Ultimately, my subjective truth must be a balance of objective facts and subjective witness to the experience.
Once I have enough objective facts to harmonize with my sensory truth, I simply look at the painting and let it tell me what it needs.
It's not always that easy - I often think I know better (ego).
I'm learning to be more patient, a better student - to look and listen for what comes back to me and leave the superfluous facts to the lawyers and accountants.
A little mystery is a good thing.