Today we’d like to introduce you to Glen Sutton.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I am a self-taught artist. I am not sure when or why I got started, I just always have be an artist, and I’ve been creating art since I was a child. I suppose the first real encouragement I got from anyone, outside of my family, is when I was in elementary school and lived in Clearwater, Florida, my teachers submitted some of my art to our sister city, Nagano Japan, as part of a cultural art exchange program. I received a certificate from the Mayor of Clearwater. I think the pieces that they submitted were either pencil drawings of vintage sailing ships (I loved the detail of drawing the rigging) or maybe it was some prints I made of ships using linoleum block cutting. It has been so long I don’t really remember. I just know it had to do with old sailing ships.
Mind you, I am also a musician, and filmmaker and photographer, as well as a graphic designer. So, all those things interweave and cross influence each other. I think my love for graphic design and filmmaking, well music too, was inspired by my Uncle Carl, who was only 7 years older than I, so I learned a lot from him. We hung out a lot, so he was a real influence. I was also influenced by exploded-view drawings, iconography, fonts and more that I saw in magazines. Especially one like National Geographic, when they had detailed pull-out maps and charts. Oh and OMNI magazine and the like. I could get lost in those for hours. Hmm, come to think of it, architectural drawings too, they were a real interest of mine as well. Lines. Lines, schematics and so on. Funny that now the detail is not so much an interest, except in graphic design…but not my painting, which is more messy, abstract. Textural. Moody.
Art, being creative, et al, for me was a means of escape. Dealing with some issues I had growing up with an alcoholic father, and battling night terrors, and anxiety, and so on. It, all of it, music, art, etc was a way of expressing something, organizing, categorizing…controlling I suppose, in a way, things outside of myself, and inside my head… it helped me survive. Really.
Anyway, my main gig these days is as a graphic artist/designer, and I’ve worked professionally for over 30 years. I also worked in television and radio, theatre and puppetry arts. I recently went back to college and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in film/video, from Georgia State University. I minored in Sociology. Previously, in State College/Community College, in the late 80s early 90s, I focused on Psychology. I am also an electronic composer and photographer. Both of which I have been doing for just as long I suppose. Really all of it since very young, early to mid-teens.
Please tell us about your art.
Well, focusing mainly on my painting, I work in acrylic and mixed media, exploring mostly texture, color, mood and so on. Shape and form live there, but not always as the focus. I explore feelings, moods and ideas, sometimes illustrating thoughts or ideas, or snippets of songs or conversations I overhear, or recall.
I think it is a way to visualize something intangible, esoteric, but exoteric as well. Or, perhaps, how the two intersect. The inside, reacting to the outside, influencing the inside…if you will. It is a cyclical experience, in the spiritual, physical, emotional, and so on. Anyway, without sounding too weird, I guess, it is a means to share something that I can’t express any other way, or as well. Moving to other mediums, like film/video, photography, music, performance etc., incorporates many of the same functions, ideas and expressions of my paintings, doodles, etc., but they also have other jobs…if you will, as they are often part of my way of making a living. So yeah, they exist as work as well. The painting, not so much…though I wish I could do just that and have it support me so I can do other things as well. Working a “job” can steal the time and energy for creativity unless you are blessed with a creative job, but even then… it can rob some of that energy away. Confuse it or confound it even. So you really, or rather I, really have to move one away from the other, as best as I can. Having a studio space was and is a blessing. A place away from home where I can engage in these experiments. Without it, I think I’d just cry all day. LOL! No seriously… insanity/genius? So thin a veil between them. I suffer from severe depression, but manage it well through my creativity. When the creativity gets stifled…well, that’s when the depression and anxiety leaks in from time to time… that and sheer exhaustion from keeping a job, or in my case, jobs. I also do freelance, tutor from time to time, and do location security for the film and entertainment industry.
Ideally, I’d love to get in with an art department and work on productions from the inside. Maybe one of the days. But for now I keep plugging along. Doing my thing.
As for my process? Well, it varies. I think it starts with the urge, the drive to create…so all that I mentioned just moments ago, comes to bare, because it is what pushes the creativity. It drives the desire to express the inexpressible, I guess. So there is the drive, urge, muse if you will… the impetus of the divine gift…and yes I do believe it is a divine gift. Read that how you want, but I think the creative act, the act of creation, is a divine idea, one I think we all have a bit of. Even if we don’t think we do. I think it exists cellularly, if not spiritually, in all of us. Some of us are just tuned into it differently… more acutely aware of it perhaps.
I guess the message is – pay attention or don’t. See it or ignore it. It is up to you, but if you do dare to take a glance, really sit with it, and let it speak to you. What is fascinating is that it can resonate with different people in a multitude of ways. Some get exactly what I was thinking, and others startle and surprise me with a reaction that is beyond what I expected, and I love that. For good or bad. They get it their way, and that for me is the freedom of art. The gift of art. When a person is allowed to see what they see, and feel what they feel, regardless what “art” and society says they must see or feel or react… do you know what I mean? When a human being is free to feel…free to express, and not feel harassed, or made to feel somehow less than because they aren’t artists. Recall, if you will, I think we all can aspire to creative endeavors, and I hope to awaken that in some small way…to inspire beyond their expectations, so they have a means of expression. A means of freedom they may never knew they had.
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
This is very true. Recent studies show that creative types/intellectual types have the highest chance of mental illness, depression, etc. Another artist and I were recently talking about this, and that is why I hope to encourage a group show, events, get togethers etc. Being creative can be and often is, at times, an insular act and practice. We are often deep in our own thoughts, experiences, moods, feelings etc…And it can be a painful process to exorcise those things that we are feeling. Maybe this is not true for all artists, but for a lot of them, for me, yeah it can be true. Lonely, very lonely.
I would suggest getting into group activities with real people, not just online. The online culture can be deceiving, and false, especially for younger artists who never experienced the pre-internet world. But that’s just me, and I am very into technology…but in moderation or well managed. That takes time.
But I don’t know, artists are welcome to reach out to me and we can always talk and start a club or group and do things outside of the art world, or focus just on art, as long as people are willing to reach out. I like bowling. That can be fun!
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
At the moment I have a few pieces online on Saatchi art, where some was selected to be in a curated collection, and on my Instagram and Facebook pages. I hope to have, put on, orchestrate or develop a group show at some point either in the studio space in East Point, or elsewhere. People are welcome to request a visit to see what I have or I can send a link to what is currently online. They are welcome to support it by sharing it and letting others know about it, or by buying it. Buying it is really helpful and supportive. It allows me to do more!
https://www.saatchiart.com/glensutton
https://www.facebook.com/glen.sutton.atl – check my photo album section.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.glensutton.com
- Email: glen@glensutton.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glensutton67
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glen.sutton.atl
- Other: https://gsc-films.com/
Image Credit:
Glen Sutton
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