Meet John Long | visual artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with John Long and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
“Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough. Work as hard and as much as you want to on the things you like to do the best. Don’t think about what you want to be, but what you want to do.” – Richard Feynman

I’m not sure I can explain why I make art. I do it because I’m called to do it. I wasn’t trained as a studio artist. I did study photography and film making but I couldn’t imagine making a career of that. It was a failure of imagination. I became a Montessori teacher and then a school director and teacher trainer. I always saw teaching as a creative enterprise. It wasn’t that I wanted to BE a teacher; I wanted to DO creative work; to be involved with the life of the mind. At the same time, I continued to visit museums and galleries. I often came away saying, “I could do that.” In 1998 I visited the Menil Collection in Houston for a show of Joseph Cornell’s work. I came away saying, “I could do that…in fact, I think I will.” The next day I created an assemblage in the style of Cornell. First thing I learned: it isn’t as easy as it looks. So I made another. And another. In the next year I built 150 Cornell boxed assemblages. This led to making photo collages. And then painting. Along the way I entered juried shows. I was accepted into some, rejected by many. I learned to live with rejection as well as acceptance. I won prizes and sold some of my work. Over the past 25 years I have completed nearly 2000 paintings, collages, assemblages and calligraphy pieces. My work has been an ongoing exploration, one idea leading to another. I will create a series of related paintings and then, almost inexplicably, head off in a new direction, creating an entirely new series. Art work. I work hard at it. But is it WORK if you love what you’re doing? When I’m busy in the studio I enter a creative state of mind. I lose track of time; I lose track of myself; I become one with the work. This is what drives me; entering that state of mind, exploring visual ideas, seeing what emerges from my efforts. That is why I make art.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The work itself. Painting. Calligraphy. The psychic state of work-driven contemplation that focuses the mind, heightens awareness, frees the ego and makes time dissolve. That is what drives me.

I work from the kernel of an idea or a feeling; not a plan. Even when there is an advance design, my work is spontaneous, improvisational, jazz-like. My precision is imprecise, my exactness inexact. Perfection is an evil genii I aim to expose. My work invites close inspection: contemplation of imprecision, inexactness and imperfection.

Many of my pieces have multiple layers. They reveal & conceal their own history, manifold incarnations, patterns that compete with one another, contrast, complement, build complexity, or reduce to simplicity.

Over the last twenty-five years I have produced nearly 2000 pieces in the studio. Beginning with assembled objects in painted boxes, one medium led to another, one style to another in an ongoing intuitive exploration. Three-dimensional assemblages led to two-dimensional collages I called ‘woven photos.’ Then three-dimensional ‘tape on books’: books mummified within quilt patterns of colorful electricians tape. Then abstract painting: vaporous landscapes; neo-geometric; anti-minimalist; text-based paintings that challenge comprehension or shout TRUTH; post-modern mandalas; multi-layered matrices; constructivist networks; paintings sawed into pieces and recombined into mosaics.

And whenever I butt-up against a dead-end in my painting, I reach for paper and sumi ink to simplify my thoughts or simply explode using traditional calligraphy brushes or non-traditional brushes with super-long bristles.

When I paint on plywood panels I build hardwood float frames. When I paint on canvas, it is loose canvas, and when the painting is finished I build a wooden frame and stretch the canvas.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in the mountains, in the town of Estes Park, minutes away from Rocky Mountain National Park. When friends come to visit we hike into the mountains, heading to the lakes and tarns at 10,000′ or above. We head to the tops of mountains in the Park. We head to the high Alpine valleys in the summer to see wildflowers on the tundra or in the winter to experience brilliant white snow and quiet. We walk across the icy surface of lakes and study the patterns frozen in the ice. We experience the wind funneling down from the mountain summits or luxuriate in the stillness of a blue sky day.

On the way back into town we stop at Bird’s Nest for coffee and pastries … or pass time in one of the coffee shops along the Big Thompson River: Kind Coffee, Raven’s Roast or Coffee on the Rocks. A great lunch can be found at Himalaya or Nepal’s Cafe or Estes Thai or Cafe de Pho. Later in the day we’ll visit my favorite breweries: Lumpy Ridge Brewery, Rock Cut Brewery, and Avant Garde Aleworks. In the evening there’s dinner and live music at The Rock Inn, the most rustic dining room in Estes. If it’s a Friday night, there’s likely to be a crowd of young Park Rangers hanging out at the bar trading tales from the week. On Day 2 we’ll head downtown to Ed’s Cantina & Grill. Going more upscale on Day 3 we dine at Bird and Jim’s and finish off the week with a celebratory dinner at Twin Owls Steak House. All of these coffee houses, breweries and restaurants are locally owned businesses and living here in a small mountain town I’ve come to know the entrepreneurs who own and operate them. Of course no one spends a week in Estes without visiting the Stanley Hotel. The ghost tours are a great diversion and a visit to the whisky bar a perfect way to wind down.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
When I work in the studio I work alone…but like everyone, I’m part of a network of people and ideas … multiple networks that inspire, encourage and support what I do. I mentioned being inspired by the work of the self-taught artist Joseph Cornell. I had never seen Cornell’s assemblages. In fact, I’d never heard of him. How did I get to the show of Cornell’s work ? My wife, Kathy Long, told me about the show. She thought I’d be interested. We went together. She has been an ongoing supporter and cheerleader for my creative efforts these past twenty-five years — and before. What good karma to have found such a supportive and encouraging life partner. How did Kathy hear about the Cornell show? She heard about it from a co-worker, Sharon Wilcutts, the art teacher at the school where she was working in Houston. We can never underestimate the power of social networks, and the influence of seemingly casual remarks and conversations. Where was the show? At the Menil Collection, a world-class human-scale museum in Houston. Cultural gems such as this preserve our history and inspire us with their permanent collections and special shows. Joseph Cornell is sometimes considered a surrealist artist and Dominique de Menil and her husband, John de Menil, collected 20th Century modernist and surrealist art. Their personal collection became The Menil Collection. Eight years after the Menil Collection was built I moved to Houston. Three years later I attended the Cornell show there. What good fortune. Then I began to make art. Early on I was accepted into shows at the Houston Art League, Lawndale Art Center, the Art Car Museum and multiple restaurants, coffee houses and bars. My work was represented by the Blossom Street Gallery and I was featured there in one-person shows and group shows. I began to sell my work and this provided additional encouragement. Houston has a vibrant art scene and community of artists, curators, gallerists and patrons. Fertile environments such as this provide the synergy for creative output. I benefited from all of these connections, all of this inspiration, all of this encouragement and support.

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