Interview from Canvas Rebel
Robert, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I owe a lot of my artistic career and the environment we have created in our gallery to philosophies and actions of my parents growing up.
As for my artistic pursuits I had the opposite experience of most creatives I know. At a young age my parents came to find that I had a strong aptitude for mathematics. By 4th grade I was heading to the junior high each day to take classes and by the end of junior high I had already completed all of the high school math requirements. Because of this, I was offered numerous academic college scholarships throughout New England. Rather than pushing me to take one of these scholarships, my parents told me to follow my passion and pursue the arts. They constantly reminded me and my three siblings that life was meant to be lived with passion and zest and that money was never going to bring either.
As for the gallery’s environment, we run it in a similar fashion to the business my parents ran in southern New Hampshire growing up. The operated a small family beach club from Memorial Day to Labor Day each season. It was campy and magical at the same time. There were paddle boats, a snack bar, endless picnic tables, caravans, water slides and a bouy line that marked the swimming area that consisted of floating milk jugs. My parents worked 7 days a week, my grandfather was the gate attendant and my grandmother ran the snack bar. All four kids in the family worked as life guards and swim lesson instructors. My memories of “Beaver Lake Park” were filled with never ending friendships, ancient weeping willows that provided a massive canopy, the smell of barbecues and fireworks on the fourth. I could not have asked for a better, more connected environment to spend my youth. It wasn’t until they were ready to retire and move south that I came to find out that they never made any money running it. It was a terrible “business” and the only reason they kept doing it was to give their children idyllic summers filled with community, memories and love. When Megan and I opened a gallery, I knew we would try to do the same and create a business that acted as a social service. We have tried to create a gallery that welcomes everyone, that inspires and ignites ones own sense of creativity, and most importantly of all, a place that facilitates relationships and community.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
As an artist and gallery owner I am constantly trying to inspire everyone who walks through our doors or sees one of my paintings. Our goal has always been to uplift and convince people to embrace their own inner creative. The sign outside the gallery reads “art belongs to everyone” and I wholeheartedly believe this. I have seen time and time again, a person embrace their inner creative and instantly it seems as though there is a new twinkle in their eye. We try and offer a gallery that will make you feel included and inspired and if you happen to be looking for a painting we happen to represent world renown talent. One of my favorite sentences to share with gallery visitors is our concept of “character first, artwork second.” With all of the incredible paintings that hang on our walls, we love to point out that behind every painting in a dynamic, caring, wonderful person.
As for my own paintings I try to allow my imagination to commingle with reality and create works that at first glance seem possible, but not plausible. I hope my paintings bring back that level of childhood imagination where the laws of the real world no longer apply. There is enough political and social heartache these days so I have taken on the mission of bringing some more optimism and buoyancy to the world.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
My favorite aspect of being an artist is the never ending blank canvas. Behind every work I’ve ever created is another blank canvas that can be absolutely anything. Up until my junior year at RISD, I was under the impression that I would have pick a specific genre or subject matter and slowly focus in on that subject in order to solidify a voice or brand in the art world. However, a professor at RISD named Holly Hughes forced us all to drive to NY on our own dime sometime during the semester and see the Gerhard Richter retrospective at the MOMA. At the time the name Richter didn’t mean anything to me. That being said, that exhibit eventually changed my entire trajectory as an artist. What I saw in that exhibit was everything and anything. There were 16 foot giant abstracts on aluminum hanging next to an 18″ x 24″ photo-realistic portrait. I could not believe that the same artist created such an enormous breadth of diversity in their work. I was forever changed, understanding for the first time that a great painting is a great painting. Since then I have painted everything and everything with my imagination being the only boundary.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I will never forget when we first were opening the gallery and seeing a TED talk featuring the educator Ken Robinson. He was speaking such a simple truth that people don’t respond to what you do as much as why you do it. It was that simple concept that made us think the gallery’s philosophical doctrine should be everywhere within the space. We started thinking of the business as experiential. We put our money towards fulfilling the promise to inspire all those who walk through the door not just the buyers. We give a free sketchbook to every little kid, a 100 page book to every person, and everywhere you look there are elements just meant to ignite wonder. Some of those elements include a levitating steel ball on the desk, an upside down elephant walking along the ceiling, a swing that can hold 3 people, a kinetic sand art coffee table, a glass eye hidden in a crevice and endless inspirational vinyl phrases hidden on walls, ceilings and nooks throughout the space.
