The creative life is amazing and daunting. I love surrounding myself with artists, designers and thinkers. Because I believe, if you’re open to it as I am, that creativity is contagious. So, with that thought I am so delighted to introduce you to LA-based artist Scott Waterman. I was lucky enough to engage him for the latest installment of Conversations with Friends. His amazing work speaks volumes. What fun to learn how articulate, thoughtful and engaging he is one on one.

LISA: Describe the perfect client.

SCOTT: In collage I started a program to prepare me for architecture school then switched to fine art but I have always had a great appreciation for fine architecture: classical, modern, and contemporary. I really enjoy keeping up with the latest in architecture from the work of the members of the Institute of Classical Architecture to the dynamic explosion of contemporary work in China and elsewhere in the world.  I started my blog, Corbu’s Cave, in part to make the case for murals in architecture and the title is meant to suggest a range that covers everything from cave dwellings to le Corbusier. In fact I think a lot of modernists and contemporary architects are not completely aware that le Corbusier, the hero of modernists, liked and painted his own murals -Modernism’s really not all about white walls. My ideal client would have a fantastic work of architecture and allow me to paint a mural of my own design somewhere inside or out. In fact most of my clients come very close to that.

LISA: Your work is amazing and so diverse. I’m interested in this idea of diversity. You work in different mediums and your style seems to defy (easy) definition. That said, what is fundamental to a Scott Waterman design. Common threads? 

SCOTT: I have thought this myself and expressed it -that my work is diverse but I think in the end its coherency will show through. I always appreciate a great economy of means and strive for that. My commission work is always about creating something that works in harmony with the architecture even if that means a kind of fugue. From a purely technical aspect I most often use a watercolor technique, that is layers of washes to create form and luminosity and I have been using only non-toxic materials since moving to California in 1989.

 LISA: Do you work on multiple projects simultaneously or rivet all your creative attention on one at a time? And why?

SCOTT: I most always have multiple projects in mind but one has to be finished before another one can start. I think the multi-tasking is going to turn out to be a false notion.

LISA: Carte blanche. If you were not a visual artist, what would you be? I’m asking for career choice #2.

SCOTT: I might say architect but really it’s landscape design/gardening. I so appreciate beautiful gardens and enjoy working in my own and unlike architecture nature gives you a hand, plants grow and change. And it’s possible to do something quite satisfying even on a very small scale, which is what I have to work with at the present.

LISA: You’re a traveler. Some of your projects take you away for long periods of time. How do you feel at home when you’re not?

SCOTT: I love to travel but actually don’t have to chance to do it as often as I like. Most of my painting, even large-scale murals are finished in my studio then shipped to their intended location. If I go to supervise the installation and do a little touch-up painting that’s just a few days. I can’t think that I’ve even been homesick but I welcome the opportunity to experience that if a project dictates me being on site for longer usual.

LISA: What is your response when a client asks you to repeat yourself? That is, basically duplicate something you’ve already done?

SCOTT: I’ve been asked to duplicate a project a few times but in fact it has never come to be because of some reason on the part of the client. I would be happy to do a duplication because I usually think given another chance I could make improvements.

LISA: You describe yourself as a problem solver. What nut are you cracking now?

SCOTT: All of my projects involve a lot of problem solving but they’re a multitude of mundane tasks that I don’t think are so interesting to discuss. Often the most significant problem to solve is how to get my proposal idea across to the client. I’d much rather set out to do it rather than talk about it. But I understand the practicalities of getting my clients on board with something that exists only as an idea, a sketch perhaps, and expect them not to want to be reassured. In the end it really is a leap of faith on their part and mine too really but I have my body of work to back me up.

 LISA: You talk about executing an idea “deftly.” Great word. Tell me more about what that means to you.

SCOTT: Deftly goes back to back to one of the terms I used to describe my through line and that is: economy of means. Paintings can be thick, impasto, and I like those but even more ones that are incredibly thin. I think it’s a miraculous thing when something so minimal, so hardly there can have so much substance.

LISA: Did you make a New Year’s resolution?

SCOTT: Not really. Just try to be better, make it better, that idea.

LISA:You’ve been given a magic paintbrush (A.K.A. wand). You may spend the day in a different era, a different time, a different place. Where would you travel on this flight of fancy?

SCOTT: No, I can’t say I relate to that idea. The goal for me is to be really present. When you’re really present you tune into the infinite and that’s the ultimate.

See more of Scott’s portfolio here.  Inquire about his gorgeous iPhone cases here.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2013 at 4:55 am and is filed under Luxe Loves. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.