So so so excited to have received my new shipment of art tools and materials. With all the upcoming work, my rag-tag assortment of brushes and paints simply had to be replenished, so I bit the bullet, as they say. I don’t even want to tell you how many hundreds of dollars have just been unpacked. People really have no idea how much good art tools cost …. just like any other endeavor, I guess. But as Ben Long used to say, '‘you’ve got enough to overcome as an artist without having to work with inferior tools.”
Nineteen brushes … all filberts (that’s really all I use now) …. these are the smaller sizes 0 to 10 because (given my technique) the big brushes last vastly longer than the smaller ones. Robert Simmons Sapphire for finish work, Windsor & Newton Monarch for that time between the underpainting and the delicate top glaze layers, and Princeton Dakota, a new brush for me, with long firm bristles and a sharp edge … want to test drive these for outlining, on the rare occasions I do that.
And Williamsburg paints. My uncontested favorite. I remember Ben always hated them because they can be unpredictable …. which is precisely why they are perfect! Riding the wild horse.
Here’s a no-accidents-in-art story about Williamsburg Paints. My friend Bucko Brandt advised me on several occasions to connect with a friend of his, a well respected Charlotte Art Czar named Larry Elder. I tried to connect, but Larry had just sold his gallery, and I wasn’t finding an easy path to him. Some time later I stumbled into him at a gallery in South End … in fact, someone I didn’t even know said, “I think you should meet Larry Elder, and took me upstairs to his office.” I told him about my connection to Buck, a little about my art pedigree, and showed him some work. He closed the office door and offered me some cookies. “Let’s talk a little bit.” (They were really good Christmas cookies … I think his wife made them and he didn’t want to eat too many so he brought them to the office to share.)
Somehow I mentioned Williamsburg paint … I have no idea why because it’s not something that would normally come up. So it turns out … here we go … the company had been founded by a New York artist named Carl Plansky. Great painter. After his death in 2009 the entire collection of his work went to one dealer — Larry Elder. When asked if I knew Carl, I said no but I love his work. Larry smiled … “come here.” Outside the office … up and down several halls were all of Plansky’s paintings. I was spellbound. Still am, actually …. it was Larry’s guidance that led me to my new gallery situation … not the traditional business model … rather a design center filled with all sorts of creatives … and art.
So for this Christmas morning in May, it’s only Williamsburg paints for me … in gratitude.
