Acrylic Flow Painting with Maine Artist Scott Bowe

I have with me artists, Scott Bo. Thanks for coming in today. Thank you so much for having me, Lisa Scott. I have to start with this beautiful piece behind us because blue is one of my favorite colors and you have a lot of blue in this piece. What's the name of this piece and describe it for people. Well, this piece right here, let me preface by saying I'm a blue guy too. I mean, I love the blues, the whole spectrum, uh, and, uh, and I, and I enjoy playing with, with that. Um, the name of it is ball me. And I'd like to also say before I get into it a little as that, I always title my paintings. After the fact after they've been done, I never have a preconceived idea of really what I'm going for necessarily. Um, I can get a little more detailed on that later, but, um, in this, so this to me, you know, again, I like to keep the names, um, pretty nebulous and, you know, for pretty obvious reasons, uh, too. So you're not suggesting or, you know, putting a, some kind of thought into somebody's mind about what it is. So my paintings and my titles of my paintings and this one bombed me, like I said, is always about a feeling. The words I choose for my titles are about a feeling. So I mean, bombing to me when I, when I was finished and I kinda felt it it's always a feeling, um, it felt just very, um, relaxed and, and calm, very like bomb, like, you know, just it's soothing. Right? Um, it was very soothing to me. However, I could have taken the name too, you know, with the word balmy as being mad and crazy. Like he's, he's acting a little ball me right now, isn't he? You know, so that's what I was referring to when I choose the titles. I don't like to use one that, oh, that's what it is. So I just start thinking that way. This was also let me get into this, the creation of this, this is, um, called fluid acrylics, uh, which are different than your normal like tube, you know, uh, acrylic paints, meaning the viscosity of it is a lot thinner. It's a little more watery than, um, horrible. That's why they call them pores. And, um, uh, this, this style of painting actually originated in night in the thirties, um, by accident by, uh, can't remember his name is this a Mexican, um, uh, artist and he basically invented, um, fluid painting. So it's a matter of taking the whole canvas when it's blank and filling it all with what I call just white space. So you take a polymer, like a clear polymer and you add the white to it, and you, and you basically drenched the whole, the whole canvas is all wet. And then you play with the colors and you just, and again, it's a feeling, it's a feeling of like, feeling right now, what am I going for? Um, uh, and it's all very in the moment, acrylics dry very quickly. So it's always like, okay, I gotta get, I need that color, but I don't have that color. I've got to mix that color. I got it. Um, yeah, so I, I got, when I got really into the painting, I, I started to think of it more as an ocean as like, um, tropical breezy bomb, me type of atmosphere. Um, yeah, to answer your question, that's my long-winded answer. Well, it is very beautiful. And now that you're saying this, I can, I can see the two different ways of potentially looking at the piece when people, um, acquire your pieces for their homes. Do they ever come back to you and give you a story around the piece that they chose and why? Sure. Yeah. I mean, absolutely. Um, they've, I've had many people come back to me and well, it's interesting with people that purchase, um, you know, art buyers that purchase art for the purposes of the true purpose to put it in their home and, and appreciate it, um, that they, uh, it, it resonates with them and they I've had people call me and say, and really harp on me about why did you name it this? Why is it called that? Cause what I see is this, and I know this isn't directly answering your question, but I really, as an artist, one of the biggest things I enjoy the most is hearing what other people see. So yeah, I've had, I've had many instances where people have contacted me after purchasing a piece or, you know, my mind when you initially asked the question, was it commission, um, pieces where you're collaborating of course, with the person and you can, um, yeah. Yeah. I think that pretty much sums it up. Yeah. That must be an interesting process. If somebody is commissioning a piece from you and your pieces are very abstract and you just described your process as being very in the moment. So how do you bring those two things together where somebody else has a different idea of what in their mind might be, what they're commissioning, but they've asked you to do Right, right. That is, I can't replicate this. Okay. I mean, I, I can come close, but no, this is a lot about gravity movement. Um, uh, a lot of different techniques, but, uh, when you're doing a commission piece, uh, for example, um, I had this one, this one guy who from New Jersey and, uh, he had this huge, just had bought this huge house, um, big cathedral ceilings. And he took me, took me through it with virtually through, with his iPad. And he had this big space for a triptych for three, three in a row. And he wanted them like 50 by 40 for three of them. And yeah, it gets a little tricky, especially with that dimension. Um, so I started asking quite a lot of questions when, when I'm in that kind of situation. Well, first, first of all, like, you know, what kind of lighting is it under that I always changed my lighting for commission to, to make it be represented with the way they want to see it, but to work with somebody when you're an abstract painter or an expressionist, and to have somebody else tell you what direction to go in, like you were saying or asking, was it, hasn't been a big problem to be quite honest with you. I can understand how that, that, that you can't do exactly. Maybe what they want, but you're always, and that's the beauty of it. You get creative together, but it's, it's still, it's still abstract and put in, in, in more in their color palette and more of their suggestion, but it can be done for sure. Well, I know that some artists prefer not to do commission. You know, that that is always sincerely blown my mind. Um, I, I guess I respect a portion of that, um, philosophy, uh, for me, I think is one of the best things in the world. I absolutely absolutely love the collaboration between a buyer and somebody that's going to be have my painting on your wall. It's going to be, cause I view painting as being alive. It's it's, it's living it's I know that sounds kind of esoteric, but it's uh, it's, it's purposefully done. It's it's got energy. It's resonating it's has an effect. It moves you. Hopefully that's the purpose. Yes, hopefully. And so yeah. Has your talking about this collaboration I'm reminded of the fact that you had a completely different career, which I think still continues to this day, um, as an actor and acting is also very much, um, both individualistic and collaborative. Yeah. It's ambivert, it's extroverted and introverted at the same time. So tell me about how the work that you did as an actor has either, um, contrasted with the work that you're doing now as an artist or a contrast against or been, um, similar to the work that you do. Yeah. I w I definitely would suggest, uh, cause I've given it a much thought and I've experienced moments where as an actor, well, let me just say that colors represent emotion inherently. I'm speaking like an authority now. Okay. Uh, they re they there's an inner palette. I always view things, uh, when I was an actor as well. Um, and I, I, if I was doing a scene or in a play, or didn't really matter, it was about color. It's like an explosion of color color at colors have emotion. I think we all know this. Um, but I don't think people, quite, some people just don't really acknowledge how impactful that color can be, um, that they, that they, that everybody actually does have this, um, this inner palette of colors that represent different emotions. So with that said, acting was very similar to painting in the sense that it's about color. For me, it's not about memories, memorizing lines. It's about a feeling. So here you go with the feelings, the colors, right. Proceed the feeling. So it's, uh, it's been extremely, extremely helpful. And I'll say this, I'll also say this. This is, this was a big aha moment. Uh, when I moved to Los Angeles, I auditioned and got accepted to, um, a school called Groundlings school, um, improv. And I was there for two years and that I've always kind of made a reference to painting. Um, in, in retrospect now is an opiate as a blank canvas, because then can just think about it. Okay. Two people on a open stage blank canvas, no idea what you're going to say, no idea what kind of paint you're going to apply. No idea what the color first color is going to be, which would kind of suggest that not the next cut, like a conversation, so to speak. And so it's a very vulnerable place which I find attractive. And also, I think it's a perfect place for creation. I think, uh, that vulnerability of having an open stage open canvas and, um, and having the, the, the, the whole color theory of emotion at, in your hands sort of speak, um, resonate, both with acting and with painting. The biggest difference is the, the solitude yes. Acting you're, you sound crazy a lot of times because you're just, you're learning your lines and you're walking around your house or your studio, whatever. Um, and you're just talking to yourself, you know, and, uh, yeah, we always used to save it. It's just a crazy house. We're just crazy if he fought, you know, but it's, uh, yeah, no, I think they, I think they, uh, besides the, besides that one aspect of the performance is for art, right. Is to have it displayed and then being able to maybe discuss it or talk about it. Um, but with acting, of course, it's a, it's a, it's a, um, it's a presentation. It's a mean, and it's a, um, there's a physical presentation. Yeah. Performance. What you're describing is so interesting to me, because I do think we think of art as being static, but we talked about just a few minutes ago, this idea that not only do you interact with the art, but the person who has the art on their wall interacts with the art on a regular basis. So it's really not static. It's it's, it might be, it might look, it might look dimensional on the wall, but it's kind of continually interacting with whatever our emotional state of the moment is really A really good way to put it because I think it can change. Absolutely. I mean, I think a lot of people have bought a piece of art or acquired a piece of art or made a piece of art that at one point in time in their life, it meant and felt, uh, had its own attributes. Um, but then you, as you go through life and time passes by, and you have different experiences that it may take on a different form of feeling, or you may see something different. I don't like I, uh, that's, I would follow up with that by saying that, um, that sort of, that's a lot of the reason why I've been drawn to, um, abstract, particularly abstract expressionism is because about feeling how you, how it can change. And, you know, I've, I've heard people say that have a lot of art in their own that it's kind of like having friends around, you know, when there's nobody else there, like they they're truly invested. They're, there's, they're speaking, their friends are there, you know, they're having a conversation and now it sounds weird, but it's, it's um, there are alive. Yeah. I think you're right. And it's, it's interesting because, um, some days when you walk in you're right, you're not paying attention. You know, you get off of work and everything, you're just kind of right in your own self, but other days you can walk in and the sun can hit the wall in a certain way. It can, you know, light up something that you had forgotten was there. And then all of a sudden, your mind is activated again, you're interacting with the art and, uh, it's, it's a really, it's an interesting, and as you say, dynamic process. Absolutely. Yeah. So tell me about your relationship with the ocean, With the Ocean. I mean, I know that you've lived on both coasts, you grew up in Connecticut, you've lived in Maine. You spent a semester at sea. Yes. So, um, oh, that's an interesting question. My relationship with the ocean is very deep. No pun intended. It's very, uh, I, like you just said, I, I grew up in Connecticut, but spent every summer of my life in Freeport, Maine and on the water. Uh, very fortunate. My great-grandfather had purchased a parcel of land on the water way, way back. Um, and it's still in the family today and we had a summer home also on that property. So every summer of my life would be revolved around being on the water, no TV being on the water clam, digging water-skiing every day, fishing, boating, kayaking, going out to islands, um, exploring the Rocky coastline, which is what it is. It's an ebb and flow tide. So it's always changing the scenery. Um, you never know what the tide is going to bring in. It's also really cool to go. Scavengering when I like with my kids, but when I was growing up, it was, it was just, it was it's ingrained in me that you brought up various, uh, aspects of the ocean. Um, but of my experiences, but the colors, for example, even in this painting are, are representative. When I started to, like I was saying, I don't know what I'm going to do initially when I get to the blank canvas, but these colors are all people like to think of the ocean is blue or teal. It's not right. We, it looks that way, but when you really get down to it, there's a, there's a, you know, let's think of seaweed and think of sea grass and think of the mud that clam diggers go through and the seashells and, um, the, uh, the, uh, just the sediments in the water. And, um, you just use, you takes on a whole new life of its own. Um, and you just start to feel more like what you use, what the term you use a relationship, um, with this, this environment. And, and, and it makes you more aware of, in my opinion, of, of all the different, um, uh, colors that encompass, uh, the ocean. So with that said, yeah, and then I've had the unbelievable, um, uh, I went on this program. It was for a hundred days, and it was like you said, called semesters C. And that we literally circumnavigated the globe. And I don't know why this just came to me, but I was standing next to it. I went on a loan there's 400, 450 college students going around the globe on a cruise ship to nine different countries. I didn't know anybody. I w and I just remember standing there and I don't know why I'm saying this, but it's just whatever. And we're just looking off the big bow and this kid looks at me and he's like, man, that's a lot of water and I'm just, we're going, we're going around the world. There's a lot of water out there. Yeah. And so it was, it was, it was unbelievable. Um, if you going to see let's, let's just for quickly just say the differences between, um, you know, crossing the Atlantic. We went down, um, you know, to, to, uh, to first to Venezuela and to Brazil, but then across the Atlantic to Cape town, South Africa, and just the seeing birds that live in nowhere, there's, isn't any land in sight seeing, uh, going to Malaysia and the water. I've never seen water, like how pristine and green and just almost fictitious. It's almost not real. It's so beautiful. Um, same thing with the, the sand, um, we went to angel falls, the highest waterfall in the world. I think it's three are a hundred times, 30 times, a hundred times higher than Niagara falls, uh, in Venezuela. And the sand was all pink, just truly just pink sand. And so, yeah, my, and I could go on and on of course, I mean, but there's a huge part of me. That's, I'm also Pisces. So I'm a fish, honestly, I could have guessed that you could have guessed that. Okay. Um, and yes, so, uh, I am very much, um, a fish. I love the water and I've spent a lot of time around the water and the, and now I get the, the pure enjoyment of having my kids who are, uh, twins are nine year olds and bringing them out and giving them the same experiences, not around the world yet, but down in Freeport on the water. And it's just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. There's nothing it's cathartic to me that there's truly jumping into salt water. The ocean feels electric again, back to feeling. It truly feels that way to me. Yeah. I bring my kids down there during COVID. We, uh, we stayed down in the beginning, um, for the first three weeks I, um, down on my parents' house, um, which, uh, we would go down to the shore and I'd say, okay, now we're going to ground ourselves. And we would put our hands in the salt water. Don't talk for five, 10 seconds. Okay. And you just feel amazing. I'm being sincere. I really think that the water is that powerful. That's enough of water Just to join in with what you're saying in traditional Chinese medicine. Um, the water element is associated with the organ system of the kidney and the bladder. And it's considered your kind of your inborn sheet. This is the energy that we're all born with. And it's the thing that we are supposed to try to preserve to the extent possible over the course of our lives. Right. I mean, we all come from water. We all, we are all made of water. We come from water and eventually, you know, who knows what happens to all of our molecules when we die, but most likely many of them will join back with water. Very interesting thought. So, I mean, your relationship with water is perhaps a little bit more tangible than many people's, but it's still pretty important to all of us. Really? Yeah. I mean, hearing what you just said, it makes perfect sense. I mean, yeah, we, we are, we, we were involved in water. I mean, we just were floating. We are fish, I guess, to some extent, but, uh, no. Yeah. I mean, we all have an affinity for water. And do you think that, because there's so much of the water element in your work, that people are attracted to it in part for that reason? Well, let me ask you, do you, do you think that's what it is? Do you think there is, is that what you see a lot of water in my work? Well, I mean, I've known your work for a while. I've known you for awhile. You are right by the way. Could I just, I'm just, I want to hear what you guys see. Well, this is, this is me and my in actually, it's always been my response to your work is that, um, it's in part the fluidity of it and, uh, the motion and it's a very changeable sort of, uh, approach to seeing the world, which for me is very much water oriented, but other people may see it differently. Well, let's just fact that the world is primarily water, but yeah, yeah, no, I agree with you 100%. I, like I said, I mean, I, I, I choose, I love blues. I love water. I love, um, like effervescent colors that represent like seashells and stuff like that. Um, and most people do see a lot of water in my work or more topographical, uh, looking at objects in an environment or a mountain scape or, um, yeah, I get Subaquatic a lot, like, you know, it's underwater is a life underwater, um, and you can get as esoteric and metaphysical about it as you want, you know? Um, there's um, yeah, I would say typography, it, people have always said it looks very topographic. Um, and then also, um, Subaquatic or actually an ocean. Yeah. Well, but even when I think about typography, isn't topography also a relationship between kind of, um, soil and trees and water. I mean, that's, and when you're describing your semester at sea, all I could think of where, you know, in the, the cliff, the white cliffs of Dover and, you know, the granite cliffs of Maine and even that interaction between the landscape and the seascape. So it's, uh, it's just kind of interesting to think about your, the way that you've experienced the world and how it's been manifest in the art that you've created. That's an interesting perspective. I agree with that one a hundred percent. And I like that also to do a lot of, um, what a lot of artists call it a negative space. I don't like the word negative. And so it's white space, so it kind of gives it that, uh, island desk, um, uh, feel to it. Yeah. Has your art evolved Tremendously? I mean, They ask us because I know the answer to this question. Cause I remember when you first started back up with your art again and then over time where you've wanted to go and need it to go. But tell me about that. Was there a police where you kind of said, okay, well, I think I'm done with that now. And I would like to move on to Very interesting question. I started, uh, I'm self-taught um, I say I'm self-taught, but I was taught by friends out in Los Angeles that were represented. They were real artists and just, and, and actors and they, you know, just hanging out late nights in their studios and stuff like that, you know, I never, uh, I always took it as just fun. It was just fun. And, uh, never once in my life ever once did I say to myself, I'm going to be an artist. I want to be a painter because artists encompasses a lot. Right. So, I mean, a painter never wants no, no, but so it was more about in retrospect, I was, I learned a lot by working with these friends, you know, just about, I didn't even know what Jesso was. I, I didn't, I truly, uh, you know, but going back to the, the evolution. Yeah. I saw, I started out learning these techniques and, and, you know, using brushes and palette knives and, um, doing some pourings, um, and, and just different styles. Uh, I started out using brush only. I, you know, the typical, um, you know, I would, I would sketch, I started out with more sir, surrealism, like, um, crooked buildings and, and these, these works actually, I don't even think they've been seen, but this is sort of what I started out as. So it was more like, so real as it was abstract was surreal. You could still make out the figure, you know, that the, and that's a building, whatever. Um, but it's, uh, it, um, it's evolved in the sense that man, I it's really, this is a really hard question because I enjoy doing all of it. I, and, but in terms of me as an artist, evolving with the craft, what's when I got into fluid acrylics is when I really, really started to get extremely passionate about it. And I don't really like using this example, but I'm going through, cause I can't think of anything else, but there's when I did change from doing other types of work, which has always again like Ben abstract, but not fluid necessarily at all. Um, a lot of gestural type of stuff, but it, uh, it, uh, I, it's kind of, what's expected, not expected, but it's what, it's what resonated the most with it. The, the larger audience of spectators that's, that's where, um, that's when my art started to sell. Let's say that is when I, when I really kind of hit a sweet spot, but now I'm and people took to that. It resonated with them and it, and it was it's great. I mean, I've developed a fall, a following because of it. But I just say the one thing is it's hard. It's hard to go back. You can't it's because people are used, it's like a sit-com actor. You can't get out of that role unless for a couple of, can you, you know what I'm saying? But it's, uh, I love doing it. I love doing it. It's uh, I it's, it's a very hard question, Lisa, because, you know, I've done everything from finding a lobster trap. Um, during COVID during our scavenger hunts with my children and making a painting it all gold and putting a buoy and gold it's all, and it was all just a metaphor for what the experience we were going through that nobody's going to save you no matter how much money you have, and I could get way into it. But my point is I've experimented with so many different kinds, um, that sometimes it's not even a sellable piece, it's just a piece that send me that just kind of want to make like the lobster trap. Um, yeah, it's evolved. It's, it's evolved into different styles, different forms, but then ultimately I came to find one that I really, really liked and it w it was untraditional. It was, it didn't, that's not why I liked it, but it went, I never have my canvas on an easel. Like I used to ever. It's always on the ground. I'm always have a perspective of, uh, like a bird's eye perspective of it. Um, I am holding the crossbars on the back, you know, it's all about movement. It's about patients. It's, uh, it's, it's about composition, I'd say most important, like, um, but, and that goes along with all the styles, of course, but, but it's, uh, um, the composition piece, but, uh, yeah, that's the best as I could answer that question. That's an, it sounds simple, but for me, it's not, it's, it's, uh, it's, I've tried many techniques in part, this is the one that feels right and resonates the best with people. I think. Wow, your work is gorgeous. So I think you have hit a sweet spot, at least in my humble opinion. Yes. And I've enjoyed my conversation with you today. I've every time you and I talk, I learn a little bit more about you and, uh, it's interesting to see how you've evolved over time as we all do. Right. Absolutely. And, and same with you. I enjoy this talk immensely and thank you to Portland art gallery. And, um, and I've learned a lot more about you as well. I really appreciate it. Thank you. I've been speaking with artists, Scott Bo, you may see his work at the Portland art gallery or on the Portland art gallery website. Scott is also often at our Portland art gallery openings. If you want to meet him, he's a fascinating person, as I think you probably can tell from our conversation today. I appreciate your being with me today. I appreciate it as well. Thank you so much for inviting me.