| Issue #27, September 29, 2006 |
Honoring the Artist: Terence Donovan
This week’s cover by Terence Donovan is called “The Path.” We talked to the artist about his own path and the events that have made a difference in his life.
Q: It’s interesting that the title for the cover is “The Path.” It’s a literal place, I know, but it relates to the fact that you are engaged in yoga which is also a path of sorts.
A: Yes, I go to yoga class about two or three times a week. It grounds you; you don’t have to use your mind.
Q: How does yoga relate to your art?
A: With all the arts, you can get frustrated. You bump into things. Life can be a mess, too; it can be a struggle. Yet when I’m painting, I feel wholeness. Like yoga, I can connect. The subject and object become one.
Q: It’s obvious you connected with the setting on the cover. Tell us how you came to paint it.
A: I was painting (literally) a house up the street. During the lunch break I set up my easel and started to paint a place on Old Albany Post Road near where I live in Garrison, New York. If you continue down the path, you can see black Angus cows in the pasture. It’s one of the few places that has sustainable agriculture. But I was really drawn to the light and shadow and how the sun hit the trees in the scene.
Q: Where you live now is not only pastures but also near the Hudson River. Are you particularly attracted to the water?
A: I grew up in the suburbs near the New Jersey shore although it wasn’t as rural as here. I love the ocean, like the Hamptons or Hawaii. Especially the beaches in East Hampton.
Q: Have you always had a penchant for landscape and being near the water?
A: You might find it surprising that I went to animation school in Canada and then moved to New York City to work in the animation industry. My training taught me to understand the physics of movement and to do life drawing. When I was learning animation, I said to myself, “This is it. I really like to do drawing.”
Q: That is an unusual background for someone painting your current subjects. Any other unusual influences?
A: Yes. Helen Levitt, who is my favorite photographer. I had a chance to meet and talk with her which was so important to me. I remember her saying, when she saw my work, “Pay attention to the composition.” And I like reading the series, The Best American Short Stories. That has influenced me. And so has Hopper.
Q: I can see why. He also tells stories in his paintings. How do you feel about narrative in your own work?
A: When I look at a work, I’m right in the middle of it. As an artist, I’m letting people come into the painting. Even though I am creating the world they see, they can bring their own stuff; they can create their own stories.
Q: What do you think you’ll be doing in the next few years?
A: Hopefully, I’ll still be painting and doing commissions, like I did for the town of Springfield, Massachsetts. And I’ll be doing more of my limited editions of local scenes. In this world, there are two tracks. On one track, you have to make a living. But making art has nothing to do with that.
–Marion Wolberg Weiss
Mr. Donovan’s website is: terencedonovan.net
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