Iconic Maine Artist Philip Barter on Painting His Former Place of Employment: The Working Waterfront

Thank you so much for joining us today. You're welcome. Thank you for having me, Philip. I'm very interested in the work you do. Um, in particular, I'm interested in a lot of the, the work you've done with landscapes, and when I'm looking at some of your pieces, um, it seems like there are some, some themes for you that, that keep coming up. Which, which is Well, well, tell me about, So for example, this piece that I have behind me, um, there, there's, there's the trees in the foreground, the mountains in the background. You've got water running through it. That seems to be something that I've, I've noticed more than once in your landscapes. Well, uh, yes, I do. I do, uh, paint the, you know, similar, similar landscapes a lot. I mean, I, I, I can't see the painting, so I can't, I don't know which one it is. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's a, that's a view of Frenchman's Bay, uh, Mount Cadillac in the background from Sullivan was, And so, and that's named across the bay. Across the Bay, right. Frenchman's Bay. Very good. Have you spent a lot of time on the water? Uh, I have, uh, I've worked on the water for years and, uh, I've always been, well, a couple of times when I was away from the water and get homesick and I, yeah, had to come back. But both, both West Coast I worked on boats on the West coast and on the East And, and how is it that you began incorporating art into your working life? Uh, well, I, I guess that's easy cuz you, I always, you know, paint what's familiar of what I'm used to or what I know. And, uh, so one thing led, you know, to another, and, and a lot of it is, uh, a lot of the, uh, paintings I paint now of boats that there I can, there's not nostalgic. So I've always tried to avoid nostalgia in my work, but for instance, when I, when I paint a car, they're usually of the forties or fifties cuz that's the only cars I know that I can identify going down the road that's a 38 Ford or that's a 37 Chevy or whatever. So when I paint cars in my paintings, they're usually of that vintage. It's just because what's familiar with, and boats the same way. It's usually the older wooden, uh, wooden style, uh, uh, lobster boats, jonesport style or, uh, or her career, whatever. So yeah, it's something I'm familiar with. So tell me about some of your influences, um, some of your earlier artistic influences. Are there artists that you felt like, um, you really, um, learned from as you were beginning your career? Um, well, yeah. Uh, I always, yeah, I used to get in trouble drawing in school because that's, I paid more attention to my drawing than I did, uh, you know, school. But, uh, in, in high school, uh, my first, um, I saw a van go painting and it just kind of just really kind of knocked me back that there was that much power in, in something that, like I related to the strong powerful colors and brush throats and, and it just took my breath away and I said, you know, some way or other, I want to be doing that . And do you feel like you've gotten closer as time has gone on to, to that place that, um, you feel like Van Gogh was able to get to? Well, obviously as I'm self taught, I, I learned from the masters, you know, because, uh, I studied, you know, I couldn't say I really studied, but I really observed very closely as possible, you know, Van Gogh's work. And I imitated it and copied some paintings, uh, you know, back early to, to, to, to find out just how we did that, how we accomplished, got that effect. And, and, and then, uh, later as I was actually studying, uh, art in California with my friend, uh, Alfonso, uh, uh, I paint him with him for two or three years. And, uh, in our studies we did, uh, Mar Harley Mar Harley image came up with lobster fishermen on the, on the, uh, on the docks at Korea, Maine. And, and that really just blew me away. I said, I'm going back to Maine and pick up where this guy left off. And so, so that was my goal. I came back and I moved within five miles of Harley's, uh, studio in Korea. I lived in, I bought a piece of property in Roseboro and built a house in the woods and started painting again. And the local part of a friend of mine, uh, um, Dennis Vibrant, had a gallery and he started showing my work that was in the early sixties, mid sixties. And he actually sold, sold some . So I think my first check for those for, for the, I sold three paintings that fall and I got like a check for like $1,200. And I said, Wow, that's a whole year. I don't have to work. I can just stay home and paint. So, so I did and it kept getting better. So I know that, um, you like to do things in series and, um, one of the series that you've done in the past is the ledges. Tell me about the ledges. Uh, well, the, the ledges with the blueberry field in Goldsboro, I think it with, with Red, Red foreground and yet fall trees and ledges going through the middle. Yeah, that, that is a interesting kind of thing because I, I drove by that blueberry field probably for about 25 years before I actually saw it. And, and what I did, it was, it was great experience. And that composition, all those paintings have a similar composition, but moved things around a little bit. And that's what I go by. If I get a good drawing, a good composition, I, I will work that, you know, as much as possible to get the most out of it. And lately I've been going back to sketches that I had series of 20 years ago and make a new series by focusing in on details within the painting, finding compositions within the, within the painting. And that's been a lot of fun, especially where I don't travel as much and, uh, my, I have, I don't have so much outside influence. I've been focusing on my own work and it's been very, very rewarding. Give me an example of one of these details that you've been focusing on from one of your earlier works. Uh, well, it's easier to show it, but, but, uh, uh, yeah, well, actually what I've been doing, my wife uses a computer and so she helps me find these. We, we take a painting and I'm moving around and, and find really great compositions in it, and that they're, they're more abstract, uh, because, you know, it's obviously not the subject that, uh, that, that we're, that I'm concerned about. So I've been focusing on my more of my painting techniques by having these familiar compositions. I don't have to worry about a composition cause there it is. So I focus more on my, um, my brush work and my, uh, and, and the colors and the texture. Sure. So anyways, been very, very interesting. Very rewarding. And what about Scud Mountain? Is that, um, an important, um, place for you and has that proven to be important to your work? Well, yes. I, I see Quidick Mountain every morning when I wake up. It's right over there. And, and, uh, yeah, it's kind of a, I guess an icon or a, a symbol of the area. It's a focal points. The, it's the biggest mountain locally. The, the only one, it's not actually a mountain, but it's a big hill, but it's called a mountain . So when, And, and, and, and the, and the shape of the mountain is really interesting. It's long. It's not a pinked mountain, It's a slopey long slope with their, with their, their cliff on the end. It's interesting composition. So if you paint it from the north, there was another, Anyway, I've painted it from all, from the whole compass all around it, from the ocean and to the ocean, and I've painted it in all seasons. So that's, that's a wonderful, beautiful thing about Maine Air is that you, you know, we just sit in one place and watch everything go by like the seasons and the weather and, you know, it's really, it's really interesting and everything changes. It's all in flux. The shadows are different, the fall and the spring and the leagues agreeing and then they're yellow and, and then they're gone. And then there's always some, you don't have to move around too much to, to find paintings. So if you just are willing to sit and observe what's going on around you, then you can actually continually find things to put into your art. Right. Well, that's what I've always identified in my job. Uh, my job description is, uh, I, I look at things . What about your floral still life? Tell me about those. Well, uh, sometimes they're from a floral arrangements that, uh, my wife puts together and she always had flowers around the house. Like right there behind their screen is a floral. But lately what I've been doing is that when I work, when I work in the studio, or I usually have a surplus of paint on my pallet, and I don't like to waste pain. It's, it's expensive for one thing, and I don't like to waste anything. But, uh, so what I do is I have smaller panels always available, primed and ready, uh, a smaller canvases, and I'll just take the pallet and I'll just, I just so paint on it without any intent or purpose or anything. And eventually, after maybe a month or so, you know, I start, I can maybe make out something to focus on. And it usually, flos are so easy, you know, because the color, and there's always a always different colors all over the, you know, when you take it right off your pallet with no, no intent or purpose, you just put paint on the panel, whatever's there that anyway. And so you have all these varieties of colors and so it makes a good floor. So it's interesting to hear that, that you are, are starting with the color as opposed to starting with the specific, with a specific image in mind. Is that right? Uh, yes. Yeah. And until I is working, then I'll work the background around, around and then all of a sudden I can see, you know, I can see something coming out of it . And they, they're a lot of fun and I, I have 'em all over the house and I like, I like them and usually I have antique frames too to go with them so that, that, that makes them a little, makes it more interesting. You also do wood relief sculptures. Mm-hmm. . Tell me about that. Well, I get into that because basically, like I've pointed out earlier, if you're doing a series of paintings and, um, uh, with a good composition after doing flat paintings and working at as much as I can, then all of a sudden I see maybe I could do the same thing, only do it wood leave and use different colors, but whatever, but use the same composition and it's a totally different painting and a totally different, uh, experience. And it, it keeps, it keeps my, uh, uh, keeps my sketches going, . So it sounds like just having that added dimensionality really shifts the way that you're able to approach your art, Right? Yeah. It's just another, yeah, another venue. Now, I know you mentioned that you've been out on the West Coast and you came back to the East Coast and in addition it, Santa Fe has appeared in your pieces. So that's sort of somewhat in between the west and the east, more to the west, I guess. That's right. To me about that. Well, I, I've always loved the Southwest and the, the, um, the person I studied with is from, uh, New Mexico and we visited together there a couple of times and, uh, I've always loved that Southwest landscape and, and I found out later that most main artists do love New Mexico, likely from George O. Keith, and, uh, other people have painted in main George Bellows and you know, anyway, a whole bunch. But, uh, uh, what is it, maybe when I first started, my wife and I were first, we traveled in the winter a lot. We used to go, you know, Southwest Caribbean, wherever. And uh, but we went to New Mexico for probably 10 years in a row. During the winter we'd go out and spend a month or so, and I went alone camping and hiking and doing mountain things and yeah. And, uh, one year I painted nothing but cactus one year trip to Arizona. So yeah, the Southwest has always been very, uh, very powerful. And I think one of the things I think that's made me, uh, uh, at least successful or, or a different artist is that I, I bring the Southwest Palette to a main landscape. And the combination is, is I think I, I think works very well for me. So what is it about the Southwest and about Santa Fe, New Mexico that you think attracts main artists? Oh, I think, uh, well, I've always liked, uh, crazy Cats comics, , and that's a crazy ca landscape out there. And, uh, what's his name? Uh, George, uh, I can't think of it now, but the, uh, the artist that made came up with crazy cats was from New York and he traveled to California to make cartoons like in Hollywood. And he really got, he really got blown away when he saw the landscape in Arizona with those balancing rocks and, and uh, and the funny cactuses and all the different plants and different, uh, it's, it's another world, you know. So, uh, the desert, so of the ocean, got desert , the music. I love mariachi music. Do you bring mariachi music back to me? Do you listen to it while you're, where are you painting now? I do, I do a lot. Yeah, I used to more when I had the CDs and stuff. I always had those going in my studio, but now I'm in my studio all the time. Now I have it on that classical station, the p PBS station where there's just classical music all day. I don't have to jump up and turn it off and change channels or anything. So that's always going . So as an artist, how much time are you spending in your studio every day? What is your process like? Well, it depends. Sometimes I don't go there all day, but I usually go in the morning for an hour or two and in the afternoon, an hour or two, sometimes I'm just, uh, working on frame. Sometimes I'm preparing panels. Sometimes I'm just cutting out wood pieces and priming them or, So it's not always just creative stuff, but a lot of, uh, there's a lot that goes into a painting besides just the actual painting itself. So I, I keep busy, but I used to spend all day, almost every day in my studio or, or out looking for landscapes. So when you go out looking for landscapes, do you sketch them when you're outside? Do you take photos? How do you bring them back into your studio to work on them? Okay, well, I used to, uh, always work from sketches and then I work from photograph, but I, but instead of just working from the photograph to the painting, I always do a sketch from the photograph I learned from, uh, an artist friend of mine, Ed Gamble back, um, maybe 25 years ago or more, where he always carried this little leather pouch on his side with a pencil and pad in it. And we were talking about it one day and I asked him, Why you, cuz I was using big sketch, you know, papers and stuff, but he's brought out this little pad about that big and, and uh, he said it because it like eliminates detail. You know, if you do it a simple sketch, you know, say a three by four inch sketch and you blow it up to three or four, you know, two or three feet, then you've, you've expanded the anyways, makes a wonderful, uh, it makes the painting simpler and, and stronger I think, by working from a smaller sketch and, and exaggerating or building it up. So that's what I, I always carry as a small sketch, worked with me ever since then. So it's interesting that you work from a smaller sketch and then you build a bigger piece, you create a bigger piece, and then recently your wife has been taking photos of your pieces and bringing it back to a smaller scale again. So it's almost like you've gone full circle. Yes, because now I'm, is, I'm getting into like this little sketch I'm getting into like a little, that much of it, you know, and, uh, and then blowing it up, it makes it very, very powerful and, and you, and you eliminate the detail. Like George O'Keefe I think said that artist function was to exaggerate, uh, eliminate and emphasize. So it's like an editing process where you look at something and you edit it down and make it simple. And, uh, so that, that's what I do with, uh, that's one, that's one quote I always remember. They always stuck with me that quote that because it, it is so true. Cause you're, How do you decide what to take out and what to leave in when you're looking at a piece? Well, that's number with the sketch, uh, you know, that's the number, the sketch you would eliminate the stuff that doesn't, doesn't make a good painting. So by the time you actually make it into a painting, you've actually already done all the eliminating and you are able to just move forward with what it is that you want to put on the canvas. That's, that's right. And then the painting itself will speak to you as you're working on it and to modify to change other things. It's not like you go in with a set mind, but you do go in with a, yeah, with a, an agenda, I guess , but, but the painting changes, it changes you or it makes you change it throughout. Well, describe that a little bit for me. As you're looking at a painting and it's speaking to you, What, what types of things is it saying? Is it saying put a little more blue here or make this area Flat? Pretty much, Yeah, yeah. Or something's too big or too little. If something's not in the right place, uh, yeah, when you're working on it and you, you have a color colors in mind and you, and you, but that changes, you know, once you get it up there and say, Well that color doesn't, that doesn't look right. So, you know, it's, it's always a balancing, you know, flex a working flux. You know, you, you know, pretty much like when I approach the easel, I pretty much know what I'm going to do, but the details will change, you know, little small minutia, you know, things that will change, but nothing but the major painting will come if it, if it, if it comes out right, will look pretty much like what you had in your mind when you started it. But, but when you're doing it and you, and you see things that can improve, then you, then you make another painting of that same with that same sketch emphasizing something else. So that's why a series of paintings is good for me because when I'm painting the painting, I see, uh, there may be improvements, but not on this one, but on another one and so on. That's, I'm glad you explained that to me because I think that that makes a lot of sense. Well I just, I just discovered it myself right now, . Well then I, I'm glad you explained it to yourself when that's it. Thank you for That. That's great. So how do you know when one painting in a series is done? I, I know that a lot of artists will say this to me that, you know, I reach the place that I know that it's finished and I, and I wonder myself as an, as not a painter, um, what, what types of clues do you have to that? Well, that, that's, that's the most difficult part for me painting a painting is knowing when it's none. Um, because I, in the beginning I was criticized for Overpainting and, and it was, it was so true. I was overpainting and, uh, so now I'm trying to, you know, I have to discipline myself and just say, that's enough, you know, because you, you step over the line and it's, you, you lose it. So you have to, that's the trickiest part, knowing when to stop . So again, as a non painter, what does it mean to overpaint something? Oh, well, uh, to almost paint. I, I guess simply put, it's just, uh, putting too much paint on like changing colors and overpainting. Uh, yeah, I think that's pretty much it is, you know, and keeping it fresh. You want, you want the, the canvas to come through too, to, you know, you don't wanna just, and your, and your drawing. You don't wanna lose your drawing and your, your visual pot too. I mean the, your drawing pot. So it's, it's kind of like the idea of gilding the Lilly. You, you don't, you don't wanna guild the lil cuz it's like over painting, it's too cluttered, it's too much. You actually get too much gold on, you can't pick it up. That's, that's true. That gets heavy. Right, . So there's some practical reasons why not to put too much paint on a, on a piece. That's right. Yes, that's right. You don't wanna bury it. You wanna bring it to life. You don't wanna bury it. , that, that also is, it's a great way to think about it. Um, the carrying place. What, what about the carrying place? That's a very poetic name for a piece that I know you've done Right. Well, historically, uh, I think, uh, carrying place before they maybe had a bridge on there, they had to carry over this little body of water from, from, uh, it's in Hancock, it flows into the bay on, and it's not very wide, but it, it's a title, it's a title string that runs, uh, cross route one right into Hog Bay from the ocean. And it's a wonderful composition. And I've painted that painting probably 30 or more times, uh, in all, like I mentioned before, on different seasons, High tide, low tide time, middle tide, uh, you know, all the four seasons. And she's just a wonderful, wonderful composition. It's a perfect composition. So I, I use it a lot. Well, I have to thank you for that composition because I have, I have enjoyed it for quite a while now in my own personal space. And I also have to thank you for the pieces that, um, we have of yours that now live in my office up at the medical center that I work in, so Oh, great. Thank you very much. Yes, we have, uh, on a regular basis, I have people coming into my office and looking at the pieces and I'm able to explain that these are Phillip barter pieces and they're very special and they're very mean. So I appreciate your, uh, your sharing your yourself with me that way. Well, thank you very much. And this, you know, uh, to me, you know, and I guess to artists in general, I all I, to me is a performing. I, you know, it's not for myself, I do this, it's, it's to share, you know, to share these, this wonder of the creation all around us is so wonderful. And, uh, and you know, it's such a gift that we have that I like to share that, that part of it with others, you know? Cause I, I believe very strongly, you know, in a loving creator that gave us all this. And, and, and, and I believe that we're have to be responsible for it, for what? To take care of it with caretakers. Well, I also, I agree with you and, um, I'm, I'm really fortunate that like you, I live in a beautiful place, Maine, and now I get to enjoy Maine through your eyes as well. So that's, that's quite a blessing to me. So I appreciate that. And I know for you, we've, we've asked you to do something that, um, today sitting and talking with us on the, on the, on the podcast and the radio, I know it's something that isn't easy for everybody. So I really am very grateful to you for taking the time to talk with me today and to share some of your insights about art. Well, thank you very much. And like, as I told you earlier, it's very, it seems very difficult for me now to, to, uh, to do these kind of things, but I'm, I'm glad to be able to do it, but, uh, it's a little hard than it used to be. I, I just, I've becoming more re reclusive, . Well, we're very fortunate that you are willing to, um, sit down with us today. It's been a great pleasure to talk with you. Thanks very much, and you have a great day. Thank you. I'm Dr. Lisa Bely and I've been speaking with artist Philip Barter. You can find his work at the Portland Art Gallery and on the Portland Art Gallery website. I hope you take the time to enjoy his work because he is a truly wonderful main artist. Thank you for joining us today.