While out on a recent photo shoot, my husband and I had the privilege of stopping and talking to a man who was camped out near us on a scenic dirt road. We couldn’t help but notice what appeared to be an easel and canvas through the dingy glass of an old weathered box truck, and a man sitting inside. Upon stopping at his campsite, we struck up a conversation and exchanged pleasantries.
His name was Spence, and he was an Alaskan painter who traveled around the state in his makeshift art studio. He told us of his experiences, accomplishments, and travels abroad as a young man seeking adventure. He went on to discuss his love for the arts and how, in an age of instant gratification, mediums such as oil painting are slowly becoming lost.
It struck a chord with me, being an artist myself, that the appreciation for the traditional art forms is drawing a smaller and smaller crowd and these techniques are dying with every new generation.
To hear him speak so fondly of his art really made me happy to see someone doing something they truly loved.
He invited us into his box truck for a tour of his makeshift RV and studio. For every memory and story he spoke of, there were visual stories being told all around us. His tattered jacket and weathered hands told of the countless miles and brush cleanings late in the evening after the golden hour had passed. Peering through the rear opening, old newspapers covered the windows blocking out the Alaskan midnight sun.
A slight aroma of turpentine and oil-based paint filled the space, bringing back memories of my time at Savannah College of Art and Design. A hand-built wooden cot was placed against the side wall, with a long covered canvas painting hung above it to dry. Stained rags and various sized canvases were scattered around—future sceneries waiting to be captured.
The rusty sides and dents on the truck showed the days of hard work over the past 40-plus years, but the peeling paint as a sign of the new life and story underneath waiting to be told.
It was no surprise to me that Spence chose oil painting, which is a very forgiving medium. It allows you to come back and rework them, thus helping you mold and build a better painting. The paint itself has a lot of character, and something about watching this artist use such a forgiving medium to paint such an unforgiving landscape really intrigued me. This contrast is something that could be applied in today’s world:
We should always strive to be the forgiving medium, to continue to mold ourselves into a better version than we were yesterday, even when the world around us at times is not so forgiving.
Our meeting with Spence is something that will always stick with me. We walked away from this exchange with some new insights into our own lives. His stories and wisdom left me inspired to have a different outlook on things and to appreciate the world around me a little bit more. It was just one more reminder to slow down, unplug and make connections with the people and places around us. If we stop and take the time to talk to one another, we would realize we are more alike than different.
Barry Murray | October 16, 2022
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Good God Great Alaksa understanding!
That was a good start to seeking out AK Creatives to fill out the promise of the title.
I, that used to publish AlaskaTravelMagazine.com (as part of an all 50 states web-ring with the same format of “YourState”TravelMagazine.com), which I really don’t know what to do with — being that I am 83-years young, and do not have the oomph let to compete with Ashley Halligan. But then again who among us can keep up with such a wandering spirt.
I also, before I saddle up to cross the last horizon want to match her East Coast Pilgrim with an echo from the past named “The Overland Monthly” as another place supporting freelancing writer photographers (pictures are words/word are pictures) the opportunity to build the credentials needed to attract a locked in a box editor.
Monsters Children Magazine? Yes. I had a seasonal turkey piece scheduled to run in LIFE… that ended up in “My AWeekly Reader” after JDK was murdered.
Anyhow… an Asperger’s rambling. A warm-up exercise before getting back to making a small fortune, by investing a large bit of (almost) useless money.
Ashley M. Halligan | January 31, 2023
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As always, thank you so much for such a thoughtful response! Your writing and stories are always inspiring (as is your entire family history!) Still waiting for Bernadette to write a story for Pilgrim!