“Art is competitive and personal – you are really putting yourself out there.” – Keith Spencer
Some might look back on those “sensible” years as wasted opportunity; Spencer finds that each experience gave him something that matters today to who he is, how and what he paints, and how he manages the required business components of freelance status, such as self-promotion, negotiating with galleries, keeping records and shipping his works. THE ARTIST EMERGES
Surrendering to fine art took courage. “It is a lot about facing yourself and your own insecurities,” Spencer explained. “Art is competitive and personal – you are really putting yourself out there. I was concerned about what my style would be but found that it comes out of the work itself. You just have to take the first step. When you do the work, you emerge.” He also had to reinvent himself, making an effort to “unlearn” realism so that he could work more intuitively and more loosely. One instructor had him draw left-handed with large pieces of charcoal so that he couldn’t
get tedious or detailed as he created. Spencer painted for the first time in a figure class – acrylics on wood. “It was horrifying,” he said. “Sweat was pouring out of me. I was sure it would be awful. But something kicked me into high gear. I had only a short time to put some thing together. I focused and ended up with something I was OK with. I’ve painted ever since.” Today Spencer and his family live on a small horse farm in western North Carolina, only a short distance from Greenville. Annette teaches middle-school art; Will is now 13 years old. Spencer paints in a cozy, light-filled studio warmed by an oldfashioned stove and decorated with the tools of his trade: photographs, brushes, canvases, oils and paintings – framed and unframed. Spencer likes to work dark to light, always painting his canvases first with a contrasting warm or cool color base,
depending on his subject. Strong brushwork and vivid color characterize each painting, and he strives to further develop signature techniques to challenge himself and keep moving forward. Spencer sees rich hues everywhere and works from a large and unfettered color palette. Trees to Spencer are not just green; shades of other colors – purples, blues and reds – are there as well and come alive on his canvas. He still enjoys painting the things he learned to love at Berry College – horses, the land, nature. As strong as Spencer’s talent and technique have become, however, Mew believes something equally important shines through his former student’s work. “Keith is such a genuinely good person,” Mew said, “and I think that is a big part of it. Who you are filters in and comes through your work. I think very highly of him and hold him dearly in my heart.” B
“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” – Henry Ward Beecher
Visit Keith Spencer at www.keithspencer.net
di ps his brush in his own soul 14
BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2011