Russell Gordon — Persistence, Passion, and Patience

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For today's episode, we sat down with Russell Gordon, an artist living in upstate New York who is deeply inspired by nature and seeks to express the beauty of nature through his paintings of fauna and flora. Russell discusses his experience at the Schuler School of Art in Baltimore and emphasizes the importance of training and persistence, sharing that it took six years after art school for him to begin to find success in his artistic career. He highlights the challenges of self-doubt and the necessity of a supportive environment. He advises aspiring artists to train rigorously, seek out the right gallery fit, and to have persistence, passion, and patience. Russell then tells us about the new direction he is taking in his work, which involves anthropomorphizing animals and placing them in human roles, inspired by childhood memories and illustrators like Beatrix Potter. Finally, Russell tells us about his upcoming shows where we can see his beautiful new work!

Russell's FASO site:
https://www.gordonartstudio.com/

Russell's Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/russellwgordon/

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Transcript:

Russell Gordon: 0:00

But make sure, absolutely sure, that that is what you want. That's Joseph Campbell's follow your bliss. If you know, if you're on someone else's path, it's easy, but it means it's not your path. So that's makes it inherently hard to to forge your own path. So pursue it. Take it seriously. Don't be discouraged, or at least don't let the discouragement take the driver's wheel for too long, and never give up and enjoy it. Don't forget to enjoy it.

Laura Arango Baier: 0:32

Welcome to the bold brush show where we believe that fortune favors a bold brush. My name is Laura Arango Baier, and I'm your host. For those of you who are new to the podcast, we are a podcast that covers art marketing techniques and all sorts of business tips specifically to help artists learn to better sell their work. We interview artists at all stages of their careers, as well as others who are in careers tied to the art world, in order to hear their advice and insights. For today's episode, we sat down with Russell Gordon, an artist living in upstate New York who is deeply inspired by nature and seeks to express the beauty of nature through his paintings of fauna and flora. Russell discusses his experience at the Schuler School of Art in Baltimore, and emphasizes the importance of training and persistence sharing that it took six years after art school for him to begin to find success in his artistic career. He highlights the challenges of self doubt and the necessity of a supportive environment. He advises aspiring artists to train rigorously, seek out the right gallery fits and to have persistence, passion and patience. Russell then tells us about the new direction he is taking in his work, which involves anthropomorphizing animals and placing them in human roles inspired by childhood memories and illustrators like Beatrix Potter. Finally, Russell tells us about his upcoming shows where we can see his beautiful new work. Welcome Russell to the BoldBrush show. How are you today?

Russell Gordon: 1:52

I'm very good. I'm so glad to be here. So thank you. Yeah,

Laura Arango Baier: 1:57

thank you for being here. I'm so excited, because I think your work is so magical. It has such an ethereal quality to it. I love your color choices. I love the textures. I love the softness, of course. And my favorite painting, which is on your website, that I really it was eye candy for me, was the toad with the castle in the background. I think that one, it really, it just called out to me. I loved it.

Russell Gordon: 2:26

Sure. Yeah, that one that was pretty, pretty recent, probably from last summer. So we have, we, I mean, I do birds a lot of, you know, naturalistic things, so birds and animals, and I've done frogs and things like that in the past, but I really, I don't know, I was just really compelled by that story, the right, the frog, the frog prince, which has been done every which way. I mean, it's been done, you know, I think, I think Shrek did it in a Shrek movie, and it was great there, too. And I just, I was really inspired by by the illustrated books that I don't like, kids books and fairy tales. I don't know if they're illustrated anymore. It seemed like that kind of went by the wayside, but during the, like, the golden era of illustration and by artists like Beatrix Potter too. I mean, she can't talk about this without talking about her and others too. And so also, we have a little pond in our backyard, which, in the summertime we have just fish swimming around. It's just an ornamental pond, but it also gets frogs. And so I thought, well, I have access to a model. And so I actually got a model to do, as I painted it from life, and no frogs were harmed. He went back to the pond, and it's still probably out there right now, actually. And so, yeah, thank you. That was a fun painting, and it's kind of opened the door to other things. And I wasn't sure how it was going to go, because if I'm doing a show, and there's traditional still life and a floral and very classical, and maybe some birds of the shoreline kind of thing, you know, Audubon kind of looking thing, yes, and then a frog and a crown. What's that doing there? It's a little out of place. But, you know, it was received well, everyone, at the very least, kind of thought it was, it was cheerful. And that's it was great. I love working on that stuff Absolutely. So thank you. Thank you.

Laura Arango Baier: 4:28

Yeah, of course it, it also, it just brought a smile to my face. And I think that was, that was the moment where I was like, Oh yeah, I gotta talk to this person. I gotta, I gotta pick their brain, because there's just something so wholesome about your work, especially, you know, when I saw the frog, I was like, yes, absolutely yes. But actually, before we continue talking about your beautiful work, do you mind telling us a bit more about what you do and who you are,

Russell Gordon: 4:55

sure? So my name is Russell Gordon. I'm an artist living. And working in upstate New York of a studio there that I share with my wife, Cynthia Gordon, she is an artist as well, and we actually met at the Schuler School of Art in Baltimore. We're both students there. And so here we are in upstate New York, making our lives and and painting in a pretty, beautiful place for inspiring, for both of us in different ways, but for both of us, nature is a big part of what we draw from our we use an inspiration. For her, a lot of you know, landscape painting, and for me, frogs wearing crowns and other things. So that's, that's, that's my story, the long and the short of it. And I'm very lucky to be, we're both very lucky to be, you know, working and painting full time and just doing our best. That's what we're doing.

Laura Arango Baier: 5:52

Yeah, that's the dream. That's the dream, yeah. And that's why you're here.

Unknown: 5:58

Glad to be here. Yes. Oh

Laura Arango Baier: 6:00

my gosh, yes, and then, actually, I wanted to go a little further back in time, because I always find it very interesting to ask when, you know, my guests, of course, started to follow the path of the artist. So when, when was that for you?

Russell Gordon: 6:18

It's pretty young. So, I mean, I, I grew up decidedly Gen X, and so, I mean, I grew up, I think, a time where at school, if you could finish your work, instead of just giving you more work, they just said, go and just, you know, keep yourself busy. Um, so for me, that let me draw and not paint, repaint in school. But could I sketch books at a young age, and I could sketch and just, you know, zone out, look out the window. And so I had a lot of, you know, a lot of opportunities like that in school up to a certain point where it became academically, became a lot more demanding. And then I grew up in a place that was, you know, on the Chesapeake Bay, and it was just a fantastic full of wildlife and nature. And it still is. Chesapeake Bay is a great treasure. And then also, we were not too far from Washington, DC, so I had access to the National Gallery. I was really lucky to be able to go there. And my, my was raised by my grandparents, and my grandmother in particular, really was indulgent of that. She really, you know, kind of just was so open minded about that, and and took me to the museum as often as possible. And so, from a from a pretty young age, from a pretty a young age, maybe I don't even remember not being into art. It was just always the main thing that I couldn't wait to do, couldn't, couldn't not do and and I just, you know, I felt like drawn, I guess, no pun intended. So, you know, people speak of callings, and I don't know if art is a calling, but definitely I had no other path that was it. And there were several points along the way. I can think of three, I think that were, you know, epiphanies, like angels, choir moment, moments that said, yes, you're on the correct path, right? And, like, follow your bliss kind of path? Yeah, wow. I was young, yeah,

Laura Arango Baier: 8:30

yeah. And I'm guessing, you know, one of those moments was probably the Schuler school, right?

Russell Gordon: 8:37

For sure, absolutely. Um, so, I mean, there's nothing I didn't really know. I was just so, so lucky. I mean, I have had an angel over me, it feels like, for, for my entire life. And so I had a professor at college. I went to the Saint Mary's College of Maryland, just because it was, it was nearby, is good basic liberal arts college, and a professor there who kind of saw me struggling, I think he knew I wasn't going to finish when that was true, and so he knew about this school in Baltimore that was just a studio environment and Atelier style education. And he said, you know, hey, I've got to take these paintings up to Baltimore this weekend. Why don't you come with me. And I said, Yeah, okay, you know the big city, and so I went along with him. That was one of those moments. It was definitely open the door to this place, and just the smell of linseed oil, and then the North light, the maquettes, the statues. Hans Schuler senior was known as the monument maker of Baltimore, and so all the maquettes from a lot of those statues are there in the school, you know, the students draw from them plaster and bronze. And it's just the place is just visually replete with beauty. It's just an A salon. It's an atelier. In a salon. And also, at times, just because of the, you know, the small scale of it, it's the intimacy of just working with, you know, people inside sort of a family, sort of a crazy family, but it's a good family. And I've heard other people sort of describe it that way, just walking through those doors, that door, and just being like, I have never seen anything like this. What's happening here, and yet, somehow I'm home. So that was great. That was the angel singing and and then to further my lucky streak, I met my wife there. She was not my wife at the time, but I met this incredible woman who was, was just like, same thing, angel saying, like, I this is I found the one. It happens to be, you know, beautiful and smart, and we have tons in common so, so just that's, that was a great place for me, tough environment. I mean, it was a Natalia at times, depending on which ones can be a bit like boot camp and that they you know, it's very demanding, and you might spend all year drawing from the cast. You may know charcoal and charcoal paper and needed erasers, and that's your entire experience of art for a long time. But there's a reason, because painting is essentially about drawing. And good schools know that schulers was absolutely that environment, absolutely, yeah, five days a week, and for most of us, seven days a week. Too bad there wasn't an eighth, because we were just passionate about we loved it.

Laura Arango Baier: 11:41

Oh, yeah, I completely relate to that. Yeah. There's nothing quite like walking into an atelier school and just the smell, the, I don't know, the energy in there, it's it just feels so otherworldly. It feels like, wow, this still exists. This is like from forever ago. How is this still real? You know,

Russell Gordon: 12:04

it's right, it is awesome and all those things it is, you know, a sensory overload. And if you're, if you're disposed that way, and I definitely was, it wasn't for me. It wasn't I just didn't know that exist. It wasn't like, later on, I found out that it really is rare. And I think there have, there are maybe more of those type of programs now than there were in the late 80s when I discovered it. And it's, yeah, it's like nothing else. And the first, I mean, the first time that I had that experience, kind of going back before that was like, I said, I grew up near Washington, DC, and summertime, you know, some schools out. And my my grandmother said, Hey, we're going to Washington, DC, going to go to the to see some museums. I said, Great. So we load into the car with one of her friends, her one of her girlfriends, and we go up, and I think, you know, there's a show on, you know, the Queen's silver and Regency furniture, and it wasn't my bag at 10 or 11. And so they saw that it wasn't my bag and said, they said, just, just, we'll cut you loose. Just don't leave the museum. Go wander around and try to get some culture. So I did, and I remember walking, and there's so many great things at the National Gallery. There are Vermeers in the permanent collection. I think there are two Da Vinci's. There's the great Hudson River landscape painters. I think there's a couple of constables. I mean, just goes on and on. It's a national collection. But I walked into this one room. It was one of the bigger galleries, and on the wall was a huge painting of a man seated and he's and he's pleading. He's pleading like this, to heaven, and he's surrounded by lions. And for a 10 or 11 year old boy, this was, this was like, wow, the imagery of this. I didn't know the story of Daniel in the lion's den, and I didn't know who Peter Paul Rubens was, but there again I was. It was like one door closed and another opened, and I went, I want to know how to do that. Want to know how to how do you do that? Like I can draw and paint, but not like that, or nothing like that. And I took that, you know, back, and I ran into kind of the reality of the world at that point. And, you know, teachers and and even like minded friends were like, nobody does that anymore. You don't, don't bother doing that. That's not, you know. And didn't know he showed me, you know, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol, and maybe, if I was lucky, some impressionist or post impressionist. And I was like, that's all good and well, but I want to know how to do that, what that guy's doing, because that's ethereal. It's otherworldly. I don't know. You know, no comparison. These are apples and oranges. So. It took a while, and obviously, when I found shulers, there was the two things meeting, and it went, No, not only are people still doing this, they're they're pretty good at it, and they know things. They know methods and materials. They've kept this alive. You know this, this thread that runs through history, runs through places just like that, with people sitting around, you know, painting and talking to each other about painting and learning from each other. There was another great thing about the small, mattelier environment, was that even if your teachers weren't there, you know, physically, constantly all the time, you could look over both shoulders, and there were two, you know, other students, and they're, you know, they're making breakthroughs too. So you're going, Hey, you just, you just made a breakthrough. You learn from that too. So, you know, you're teaching each other as well as, you know, basking in the glow of some pretty great teachers. I had Han Schuler as a sculpture teacher and Anne Schuler as a painting and drawing teacher. And two, you know, two towering giants, absolutely. Yeah, good environment,

Laura Arango Baier: 16:16

yeah, yeah. There's, you know, it's, it's so amazing to be in an environment that's actually supportive in that way, right where you have you make these lifelong friends and absolutely, yeah, yeah. And, you know, they they teach you, and you teach them, and it becomes this really beautiful sort of conversation that just goes and it's like the rest of your life. You might still see their work today and be like, Hey, man, how'd you do that? You know, yeah, yeah,

Russell Gordon: 16:45

yeah. I see it all the time through the miracle of social media. I still, you know, what a great, great thing, because, you know, I did in between the time that I left school and the advent of social media and YouTube and things like I did, I couldn't, we couldn't really track each other, couldn't see what you were working on. So you went from this really close working friendships to not, you know, haven't seen you in 10 years, and I don't know what you're working but now you get to see things that that they're working on, as well as other artists. And you're like, Yeah, you really, you really have leveled it up. You know you're doing. I knew you win, and you were great, and you're just even better now. So it's yeah, as you said, lifelong friends, positively,

Laura Arango Baier: 17:28

yes, yes, definitely. And then, to your point about seeing a Rubens painting, I feel like Rubens was also a little bit of my gateway drug into there's just something about Rubens. And then also, of course, as best student, Anthony van Dyke, there's just something magical about their paintings. And then once you start there, you know you you look at all of their contemporaries, you see Velazquez, you see, you know, the people came before, the people came after, and then before you know it, you're going to an athlete.

Russell Gordon: 18:00

Yeah, that's, that was the gateway for sure. Yeah, I remember the I think Van Dyke for sure. Van Dyke did a triple portrait. I think of Charles the second, the restoration, Charles the First. Was it? Charles the First? Okay, just learning, learning about the history there of what went on in England there wasn't great for him, but yeah, that triple portrait that I think he sent to it was commissioned by the king and probably sent to Bernini, and Bernini used it to do the marble so, you know, these guys were networking back in the day. So that's a great painting. I know he probably just considered that a one off just to study. You know, no big deal. It's just magnificent. It is absolutely magnificent. Yeah,

Laura Arango Baier: 18:47

I think when I was taking art history, his his self portrait at I think it was 15, I just wanted to be like, Okay, you gotta be kidding me, man, that's not fair. He can't be that good, that young. Come on.

Russell Gordon: 19:00

Well, and a snazzy dress or two. I think his family was in in fabrics, maybe in Italy, very call out. And I think he maybe snuck a couple self portraits into the paintings that he was working with under Rubens. Did Am I wrong? Did he? Do you know he, if you like, know that guy in the corner holding the pike. And that's Anthony van dyke. He put himself in the painting, sneaky guy, but pretty clever. So absolutely, yeah, oh, that just remembered the kind of, kind of a follow up to the Daniel and the lion's den thing. And it just makes you believe, and just sort of fade, or kismet, I live. Our studio is in upstate New York. It's near the borders of Vermont and Massachusetts, very rural, agricultural farmland. But for some reason, we have, we have this incredible jewel of a museum, the Clark the Francine and Sterling Clark Museum and Clark. Works, Clark, Clark. I'm forgetting the name of the town, but anyway, Williamstown, I'm sorry, where the where the college is, and what a phenomenal collection they have. It's actually a restoration program. So people go there. I mean, the, you know, the permanent collection alone is, is worth the price of entry. But they, they teach a restoration program for conservators. And one day they had sort of an open house. So my wife and I went over and, long story short, they I just wound up in this room with, you know, a touring group of, like, four or five of us, a little tiny group, and the person in charge said, Hey, do you want to see this drawing? Of course. So she pulls back the, you know, the vellum cover or whatever, from this thing, and it's the the sanguine Conte sketch for Daniel in the lion's den by Peter Paul Rubens, oh my gosh, and uh, and again, I just kind of went and, you know, you have to wear the gloves, and they let you handle it. And then they moved on the tour, moved on and left me in the room with this, with this, this incredible drawing, you know, it's only, you know, 14 by 18, or something like that, on a on a sort of a tan parchment, unmistakably Rubens. And I thought, well, there's the book end to that first experience that I had with the original painting. But, but then I had to leave because I was thinking would look pretty good in the permanent collection of me. So I didn't want to do that. So I left it and and I wish they would make a I wish they would make an exhibition, curate an exhibition just on sketch, preparatory sketches from some of the old masters, because those drawings, those drawings are works of art, into themselves. For sure,

Laura Arango Baier: 21:54

definitely, definitely. It's always really nice to see the original sketches that led up to like a piece. And you can, you can do that at the Met. Actually, you can visit the Met and ask to see pieces that they have an archive there. I was fortunate enough to be able to do that when I went to Grand Central. So it's, it's, yeah, I feel like it's, it's amazing to see the painting, but seeing also that behind the scenes, right? It's almost like you watch your favorite movie, and then you get to see all the behind the scenes stuff, how it was made. Yeah, it's even more exciting. The

Russell Gordon: 22:29

blue the blooper reel is great. And yeah, you can it is fun to see. You know that these, these works, didn't just fall from the the mind of a genius in perfect form. In the sketches, you can see where he moved the leg of a lion. He put more energy in the more change the pose of the figure of Daniel. In that case, and you go, Oh no, he's he's working through the process too, obviously, at a tremendously high level, only ever aspire to, but there is working it out to make the composition work just like any artist would, and the sketches let you see it. I think a lot of artists, probably throughout history, I'm guessing, probably even destroyed those preparatory sketches and the clay maquettes from the sculptor studios just to create that aura of, you know it. I just was struck by a divine talent, and I created this thing without any preparation whatsoever, which is a great gig, if you can get it. But when you see the curtain pulled back and you see, you know, Master, like Rubens, working through a compositional idea. It's, it's like, I don't know, just feel more of a kinship, like, yeah, that's, that's what we do, that's what we do. It's the fun is, yeah,

Laura Arango Baier: 23:49

yeah. And it also brings, you, know, brings forth the fact that this is, in many ways, a very, very old practice, and it's been done by so many amazing artists over the years, and they usually have basically the same process, if not, you know, like different iterations of the exact same thing. So it's, it's beautiful, because it also exemplifies that we're part of this lineage of others who literally were in our shoes back in their time. Unfortunately, you know, we had to go to school and they, you know, they were able to just go straight into, like, the workshop at the age of 13. I'm looking at Van Dyke, and we're able to accomplish so much at such a young age. So we had to, we have to catch up. But actually, I wanted to ask you, how did your experience, you know, going to the Schiller school, shape who you are as an artist?

Russell Gordon: 24:52

Well, tremendously. I mean, I, I arrived with, you know, some not. Training. But some, a lot of years of just drawing, being sort of self taught, and, you know, a year and a half of of sort of stumbling around in an art program at College. But when I got to shulers, you know, I came in with this, I like to lose, like a kid, to just, like draw birds, just kind of this nerd who had a portfolio of bird drawings and lands, sort of seascape, landscape, things. I didn't know what I really wanted to do, but shulers was like, that's up to you, and you can take time to figure out what you want to do, but whatever it is you need these skills and that that appealed to me, I don't think it appeals to everybody, because they're afraid that they're going to have their style stamped out or uniformed in some way and maybe, but I didn't feel that way at all. In fact, I thought the opposite was completely free. So schulers, I don't know what they're doing today. It's been a long time since, since my wife and I were there, but it was a five day a week program you had drawing from the cast. You had sculpture, you had life drawing, you had anatomy, which that one eluded me pretty well. And there was a phenomenal watercolor teacher there named Fritz Briggs. Said watercolor class with him and still life. So you had, you know, this regularly scheduled things you knew on Wednesdays or on Thursdays, for instance, you would have still life in the morning, lunch, and then in the afternoon there would be a portrait model. And so there was some, you know, you knew what to expect, what to bring in, and the program was geared to that. And everybody, if you're there, was sort of designed as a post graduate, I think in the day, I've never really heard anyone use it, use the word atelier. I don't think I would have known what that even meant, but they would say it was designed sort of as a post graduate program. And most of the people there, or at least a lot, had graduated from college, probably with an art degree, and so they were polishing that with this sort of with a specialty. So I wasn't I didn't finish college, but I did. I was everybody there was on the same page. They definitely wanted to study traditional methods and materials and learn those skills so that you know, if you came in and you weren't down with that, you weren't gonna, you know, it wasn't gonna work. It wasn't gonna work. And there were some people who came in just for us a year or semester, and sort of, you know, dabbled in that and took that away and do what needed to do, whatever they wanted to do. But it was, you know, you really have to be, you know, in that site, guys, if that's what it is, to take the most from it. And I hope I did. I hope I did, yeah, and I remember having teachers there who, you know, when someone would grouse about, yeah, you know, every Wednesday we draw charcoal from the cast. When, you know, when do we get to paint? And you know, the teachers would say, very correctly, first of all, they'll come a time if you're if you're successful, if this will make a lifetime out of it, it'll come a day when you wish you had the time to draw from the cast. You'll think of these as the golden days. And that is so true. I would love to take off a Wednesday morning and draw from the cast. Um, my chops would be, well, not what they were, um, but and they would also say that the drawing skills are the foundation of the painting, so, you know. And they're quips like, it takes, you know, 10 minutes to learn how to paint, a lifetime to learn how to draw. And there's, there's some truth, there's definitely some wisdom in that, because usually if there's something wrong with the painting, it's in the drawing. And so drawing and being able to look to see with your eye and conceive that onto a two dimensional surface. That's what it is, a nutshell. But, you know, infinite varieties inside that. So jewelers was a great program. It definitely, it was exactly what I needed, because I didn't know, you know, what are the odds of being able to make a living as an artist? It's, it's, you know, nobody is going to take a young person aside and say, That's a good bet. You should do that. You know, maybe you could be a poet too. It's just not, you know. No, you know, these are great things, but you know, not conventionally wise. Yeah, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's just so hard. So I thought, if I'm I've got a shot at this, and I've got some support. I've had some great supportive family around me, just grandparents, only child so obviously, and so I. I said, if I've got a shot to go to this school, I'm going to give it everything, absolutely everything I'm going to I'm going to live like a monk. Wasn't quite true, but I was in it. I mean, completely head over heels. I worked. You know, we got up early in the morning and worked. We went to life drawing classes at night and other schools and programs. You know, we hired models of our own when we could have swing that, and we just completely immersed ourselves in that program and those that was a good time. That was a really good time. It was exactly what I needed. It's sort of, I've heard people say this too. And it sounds overly dramatic to say it saved my life. It kind of did. It not only saved it, but it recast it. So what a great experience. I love it, and I would recommend it so to anyone who's, you know, looking at that seriously, yeah, yeah.

Laura Arango Baier: 30:58

Very, very wise words, yeah. I agree. I think there's just something so god, there's like a, I don't know, you go to those schools, and there's like this catharsis that we go through of everything we wish we ever learned all in one place. Obviously, you sacrifice a lot going there, right? I mean, I remember also, same deal. I was there seven days a week, from nine o'clock in the morning to nine o'clock at night. Like I would be there at opening. I would get kicked out in the evening.

Russell Gordon: 31:30

You had a few nights like that. Yeah,

Laura Arango Baier: 31:33

yeah. And worth it. Exactly time to go home and sleep and then do the same thing all over again tomorrow. Like, if it worked for me, I could have stayed there all night just working on my cast. Oh yeah, girls got to sleep, yeah. So yeah, I totally understand the it's a beautiful time. It's a beautiful time. You're making me nostalgic with your with your stories. But yeah, there's just something inherently inspiring as well about being in those environments, which is also what I wanted to ask you about, which is, what would you say inspires you most to paint?

Russell Gordon: 32:09

Well, in a word, nature does in all of its forms. And I probably mean nature with a capital N. So that's, you know, a lot a lot of naturalistic stuff I was when I was a kid, the access that I had to art, you know, other than the trips to the National Gallery, were great, were through books. I was a long time before the the internet or anything like that. And so we had books on, you know, the great art collections of the world. And an artist like John James Audubon jumped out. I really liked that we had, you know, we had a lot of birds around where I lived, and you could observe from life, you could sketch those birds. And I saw that. Here's a guy who did the same thing. He was painting birds and so and so that's, you know, that's what I was doing. Nature was the inspiration from the beginning, and now it's morphed into this kind of other, you know, not only more evolved, but just a different path. But it's still nature, for sure, in and, you know, birds, animals, and even now, when I do, you know, a still life or a floral, and working on a couple florals now, and, you know, I didn't, I'm not, didn't originate this idea. I mean, the Dutch Golden Era artist did. But I can't help but put in butterflies, moths, salamanders, just hints of action and animation in life and make the make the floral like this little stage play, you know, like a doll house that's open, you can kind of see what's going on in each little compartment. It's a different story everywhere in the painting. Like I said, I didn't conceive that, you know, followed in that tradition, but nature in all of its forms, absolutely, it was always, because it's always there, thank God. In, you know, at shulers, there was a lot of, a lot of portrait painting and and life drawing, and those are incredibly demanding things. But wasn't, you know, it wasn't my driving thing that I really couldn't wait to go do I knew it was really important to get good at that because, you know, it's, it's the most demanding, disciplined part of an already demanding discipline thing. So, but nature was always there. Maybe you can't always get a model, but you know, nature's there. Nature's there in some form. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And where I live now, where I live now, you know, it lends itself to that too. It's, it's not, you know, it's not the Chesapeake Bay, but it's different in its own way. It's mountainous, more sort of, you know, a little more rugged. And there, sure enough, there's out. You go out the door. I. And they're, you know, all the little winter birds that are full time residents here, and, you know, squirrels that refuse to hibernate. And just, you know, thing you see, you just see it everywhere you go. So that is my inspiration. I think, for sure, nature

Laura Arango Baier: 35:16

makes perfect sense. Makes perfect sense. I mean, it's, it's kind of, it's a little bit funny how these days, right, we're so separate from nature in a lot of ways, even though we're essentially a part of it, right? We've had this, you know, boom in technology and all of these things. And in the end, you know, for especially for artists, whether that's a musician, a poet, a painter, right? It's always nature. It's always that return. It's like, it's, you know, like Walden, you know, like going into the cabin and hiding away and just experiencing, or re experiencing, that every day is so beautiful, if you really take a look at it, and if you have the time and the, I guess, the privilege to be able to do that, the luxury for sure, yeah, yeah. Well, I agree.

Russell Gordon: 36:09

I agree, yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it's, it is also, I think it's also really important, because it's always been important to me, just because, like I said, I was just sort of this kind of bored nerd, and there weren't a lot of kids in the neighborhood to play with, so it's just, you know, grab your sketch pad, and I was never bored. So that's not true. Was a nerd, for sure, but I wasn't bored nerd, because as long as I had my sketch pad, I was okay. But nowadays, I mean, we all have our devices, and it's, you know, it's just addictive and hard to get off of these things, these screens, and here they are. They can do great things, like what we're doing now, having this conversation across an ocean in different time zones, talking about, you know, how there's a thread of art that goes back through centuries, so that's great, but it's also the other side of it. Now I'm going to flip my phone over and let me read news. I don't want to do that. I really it's a it's not a great thing to do. It's not a great habit for a number of reasons. We don't want to get into that. But then, you know, there's just so many things that are that can just bum you out and make you go. I don't want to paint. I'm just not in the mood. So as much as you can control that and just put it in your pocket. Fine, go outside right now. It's 10 below, so wear coat, but and just go out. Since being outside is such a recharge to the spiritual batteries, I think, I think for everybody, to some degree, for me, 100% couldn't live without it. And I am really lucky to be able to live in a, you know, in an environment where that's, that's what it is, you know, as opposed to an urban, urban environment, I guess so there's a, there's a muse right out the door, and she's always in a good mood. She doesn't she's not worried about things, not very much, and it's just a great, beautiful inspiration, I think,

Laura Arango Baier: 38:09

yeah, absolutely good for the soul. Absolutely, at BoldBrush, we inspire artists to inspire the world, because creating art creates magic, and the world is currently in desperate need of magic. BoldBrush provides artists with free art, marketing, creativity and business ideas and information. This show is an example. We also offer written resources, articles and a free monthly art contest open to all visual artists. We believe that fortune favors the bold brush, and if you believe that too, sign up completely free@boldbrushshow.com that's BOLDBRUSH show.com. The BoldBrush Show is sponsored by FASO. Now, more than ever, it's crucial to have a website when you're an artist, especially if you want to be a professional in your career. Thankfully, with our special link, FASO.com/podcast, you can make that come true and also get over 50% off your first year on your artist website. Yes, that's basically the price of 12 lattes in one year, which I think is a really great deal, considering that you get sleek and beautiful website templates that are also mobile friendly, e commerce, print on demand in certain countries, as well as access to our marketing center that has our brand new art marketing calendar. And the art marketing calendar is something that you won't get with our competitor. The art marketing calendar gives you day by day, step by step, guides on what you should be doing today right now, in order to get your artwork out there and seen by the right eyes so that you can make more sales this year. So if you want to change your life and actually meet your sales goal this year, then start now by going to our special link, FASO.com/podcast, that's FASO.com/podcast, yeah, there's nothing better than going out and just like, even if you're in an urban area, right, if you can find a tree to go touch so. The Park. Just go to the park. Go look at it. Go look at it. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's beautiful because I know that. You know some people, they might live in an urban area where maybe there isn't grass, because or else, I would say, Go touch some grass. Yeah, but if you touch a tree, that's probably easier to do, yeah, totally, totally, totally, there's just something. There's something there that's very healing,

Russell Gordon: 40:25

yeah, yeah. And I think has been for all of the history of mankind. We I had a friend who came up from this the city, doesn't matter which one, but she had lived in the city her entire life, and and it's a great city, but she got here and and I saw her. We were sitting, you know, sitting out by the fire at night and seeing a little fire pit in the backyard, and she wandered off from the from the fire and just sort of disappeared into the darkness. And I thought, check on her, so I went and found her. And she was just beyond the firelight, and she was staring up at the sky, and she said, and she was pointing, and she said, what is that? And I was like, What? What is what? And she was like, there's, you know, there's, like, this bluish, whitish stain across the sky. And I said, that's the Milky Way. That's our that's our galaxy, where it's on an edge, and you're seeing it like this. And she had never seen it. She'd heard the term milky way like it was candy bar, but she had never seen the Milky Way. And so, you know, I was like, ta da. There are so many other wonders to behold out here, day and night. And so, yeah, you do forget sometimes that we are disconnected. Generally, yeah, as a modern people, we've given up a lot. We've given up a lot, yeah, yeah.

Laura Arango Baier: 41:47

And, but we could always, you know, try to bring it back. I feel like, you know, then I guess, from my experience with the people that I met, because I'm, you know, part of the, one of the last generations to have had a childhood where, at first it was very free of electronics. I mean, I was a kid who was outside so much I broke my arm. I would always have bruises and scabs and cuts and everything, you know, that's what you do as a kid. So I'm grateful for that, because now I can see how important it is to not just who I am as a person, but also even to my development as an artist, because there's just, like we mentioned, you know, nature is just such a big inspiration. And just having had the experience to say, Yeah, I remember looking up at the sky and just being wowed by it. And now maybe I want to learn how to paint the night time, because it's something that I love most, right? Like those are the things that get lost in, the wayside, in the, I guess, in the, in the everyday life that the modern person lives through. Unfortunately,

Russell Gordon: 42:54

here we are. Here we are with ourselves. Well, you know, yeah, paint the night sky. It worked for it worked for Van Gogh van, he did quite well with that. So, yeah, draw, draw, draw, the inspiration, exactly,

Laura Arango Baier: 43:09

yes, which, actually, you know, I'm, I'm also very curious to know what, because, you know, now you can, you have, we have the, the joy and privilege to be able to paint, right? And you make a living at it, right? So what was it like for you when you made that jump to say, You know what, I'm going to start selling my work exclusively and try to, you know, get make a living out of this. What was that like for you?

Russell Gordon: 43:38

I was, I was too dumb to be scared, I think, and just still, and still, young enough guy to be so full of myself that I thought that, yeah, this was preordained. Of course, I'm going to succeed. I had no idea the peril that I was in. What I did have, like I said, was just such supportive people in my family. You know, could I couldn't have done it. There's no way that I could have done had even the chance to shot at it without supportive family and my wife's family too incredibly supportive of both of us and very indulgent of that. And, you know, I, like I said, I just was like, I'm gonna, I'm not gonna fret about this. The bills have to get paid, and we're gonna have to earn our way, but I don't know how, but we're gonna do it. I mean, we're gonna do it because we have to do it. So, you know, some days were better than others, for sure, starting right off the bat, and I had, you know, what would be called side hustles. Now, you know where I was making canvases for other people, selling canvases, and sometimes just doing any odd job I could get that allowed me, that I could do in my in my free time, that allowed me to be in this. Video as much as possible, and, and those were the days to where, you know, I had a I looked into a couple of galleries who took me on and hung the paintings on the wall, and lo and behold, they sold. And if I could sell painting for, you know, I don't want to be vulgar and talk prices. But when I was 20, if I sold a painting for $300 well, I mean, the gallery takes half, but I went home with $150 from doing something that I love. How was king of the earth? And you know that we went a long way back then. So I felt, I felt like just no way that even if I fail, that I will have succeeded in to some degree. But, you know, like I said, the bills have to get paid. The list have to stay on. And then when you have a family, when you have kids, it really even more so. So now the decision is not just for you. You're not just, you know, on your own anymore, and not even as a married person. It's the two of you, and you have to work together now you have kids, and you know, the the pressures for sure is for sure on but you know, in real terms, I lucked I looked into a gallery nearby, here in Vermont, and had some had just enough luck to keep it going, just enough to keep it going, just enough to keep going. And then in 1998 97 anyway, a long time ago, I was flying back from a show in Alabama with some other artists. It was a group show, and I was sort of bemoaning my my situation to one of the other artists that I wish I had representation and, you know, a gallery that just had a little more reach and in a bigger, maybe a bigger town. And he said, there's this gallery on Cape Cod that I think you do really well at, maybe, and you should send them your portfolio. In those days, you to physically send in slides, you know, like on, you know, on a dinosaur train that they would look at and then typically send you back. Thanks, but no thanks. So I sent in the slides, and kind of forgot all about it, because I was amassing a pile of rejection letters at that point. I still have them, one of my most treasured possessions from calories that said, thanks, but no thanks. But lo and behold, I get a call back from this, from this gallery, and they said, Yeah, let's, let's try you here. And we did, and it worked. There were sales, and it was off to the races. Started finding better frames and and, you know, sort of taking a little pride, walking a little straighter, calling myself an artist. And I was like, I'm not sure, but I think I might be doing this. What I found out later was that that gallery had had just pinned an article in American artist magazine, and it was titled, How to approach a gallery. And that article brought them something like 5000 portfolios so I didn't find this out to later, so my timing could not have been worse. You know, I was like following the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and and so I said, How lucky am I? And I really was lucky. So I don't know how I got to do that, but it worked out great. I still have a gallery, not same one, but I have still a gallery in Cape Cod and and in that region, Martha's Vineyard. So that area was really great to me, as was that gallery director. He he put me on the map. I mean, everyone, have many people to thank. I can't stay at the podium too long on on the Oscars night, but, but But he, in particular, for some reason, saw something, and he really gave me the spotlight and the encouragement. What a great, great guy. His name was Julian Baird, and he was just a enormous boost to me. So by that time, you know, I was probably six years out of art school, and it looked like I was on a trajectory, but at first, those first six years, I couldn't stop long enough to even think about it. It was just don't, don't think about it. Don't, you know, don't worry about where you are. Just go. Just keep, keep going. And for me, maybe for a lot of artists, you know, it's all about the next painting anyway. You know, I mean, I could show you on the wall the paintings that are in progress are done. But the one I really want to show you not, you know, specifically, just, I just want to talk about the next painting. It's the next thing. That's what's coming up. Let's talk about what we're going to do next. What's on the easel today or tomorrow. That's where the real breakthrough is going to come. The excitement is going to come. So I don't know, here I go blathering on again, but, but, you know, in a word, how was it coming out of school? It was, it was scary because I had all my eggs in that basket. I didn't have any other eggs or any other other baskets, and my wife was the same way. So there we were, you know, we we were. We both, both had to work. They both had to work. So, luck, luck, luck and dumbness, I think, were have been my faithful companions through through good days and bad.

Laura Arango Baier: 50:44

That's brilliant. That's brilliant. But also, I think, you know you you were also prepared, right? You had because I find that, you know luck is truly, you know, being right place, right time, right preparedness. And you also were seeking out those opportunities as well, right? You weren't just sitting in your studio waiting for a gallery to fall on your lap. You also were making sure that you had everything you needed. And were, you know, looking at every avenue you could, right? So there's, there's that, that, yeah, of it's crazy, really good. Like, honestly, I, I've heard people say 10 years is usually, you know, the average that you can expect for an artist career to take off or start taking off after going to school. So six years is great, sure.

Russell Gordon: 51:30

And, you know, I think, you know, yeah, don't 10 years is a good just keep going. Don't give up. But it's also kind of, you know, where do you place? You know, where do you place the peg in the board and say, Okay, here's the inflection point where I'm making it. And it's sort of subjective. It's also like, well, you're making it clearly. Here, when you went from the red to the black in your lectures, you paid off some of your student loans, which I didn't that's just a phrase. The tuition was so reasonable that you could, you could pay it. Yeah, working a part time job, and, and, you know, most, most of us did that. So I don't know how. I do know how kids are saddled with debt now in a lot of colleges, but that that one was a bargain, was an absolute bargain, and, and and one of the other great things that you know, going back to schulers was, at the end of the year, in June, I think the first or second weekend in June, they hold a student exhibition. And so, you know, you learn how to frame, you know, best you can on a student's budget. You learn how that the paintings have to be wired to hang the hardware and all this pedantic stuff that you know you need to really know how to do, how to talk to people at the at the show. You know when people come in and they're like, Oh, this is really neat painting. Tell me about this painting. Your first instinct, you know, as a, you know, as a student who's used to being kind of professionally bludgeoned by your teachers, is to go, Well, I, you know, I didn't this part of it didn't go really well. And, I mean, the nose is off, and I get the coloring wrong and the cheeks and and it's not the symmetry is, you know, she's turned into Woody Allen and so. And sure enough, the guy who's looking at that painting is going, Yeah, you're right. It's not as good as I thought. See you later. And like, that's not you don't want to do that. You don't want to do that. So, you know, it gave you that experience of of doing an exhibition once a year and just dealing with all the things that go into that, you know. And so, yeah, pretty cool. That was a great, you know, even at the time, I knew this is really neat, because you actually, you know, get to go and do it. And at that point, it was like, you know, it's like, it's like, if you're training for the Olympics, and you're good at that sport, but the Olympics, they're going to be people there that are really, really good with your odds of meddling even are not great, probably your odds of getting a gold or even less. But if you want it, you if you just work so hard, then that's, that's, that's the only chance. That's your only chance to make it. And there's, there's, that was a great chance to do exactly that we worked hard all year. And then, you know, put up, put up the walls, literally assemble the boards, screw the boards together, all of that, you know, physical stuff, and then hang the paintings. Show ta da. There it is. The other side of working, you know, in the trenches all year, good preparation.

Laura Arango Baier: 54:46

Yes, absolutely, absolutely. And it's like you said, it's a great experience. It's like, almost like the way that, you know, you would take a lab class in like, college, right? Like chem lab. And this. Kind of like, you know, it's giving a little taste of what it would be like in a real lab, what it would be like when you have a show and you have to talk to prospective buyers and learn how to sell your work, and also, you know, learn how to hang your work properly. Like, those are all it's really funny, because those are, you know, after thoughts in many cases, but when you're an artist and you want to make a living from this, right? It's like you said, you have to work hard, and you have to do all of these things. You know, we got to wear all these hats be the one one person bands that's simultaneously painting and framing and varnishing and driving out to drop off a painting, and then meeting collectors and then talking to your gallery like there's so much that goes so complex.

Russell Gordon: 55:49

It's, yeah, it's the stuff behind the scenes that probably no one would guess. And then on top of that, it's Don't, don't, don't, forget to keep all those receipts, because you're going to have to do taxes on your deductions for that, and it's that time of year now. So, yeah, yeah, I, when I, when I got, you know, I just keep talking about school for and so, but when I got there, I thought, I thought, okay, it is like a shot at the Olympics, and if I'm gonna have my shot, then I've got to approach it with the discipline of an Olympic athlete, which that's, that's saying a little bit more. I probably can't earn that credit quite but I, in my mind, in retrospect, that's how I thought of it. And I thought this means I have to, I have got to just drop all this other stuff that I'm doing. And at that point, I was playing music a lot, played guitar and was in a host of bands and playing out and playing in clubs and practice, rehearsal and stuff, was a great, great thing for me up to that point. It was really my only real kind of social life. And so when I got to art school, can't do that anymore. I've gotta, I've gotta let it go. I've gotta say goodbye to sell my guitar and forget that crazy dream. And I thought, okay, I can do that. I'm willing to give it up. I'm that's it's so important to me, but I'll let it go. And so I get there and I put it all away, and I find out that, like most of the people here are musicians and in bands, and they immediately find out that I play and I get invited to go play in with, you know, jam with their band. I mean, it just sounds silly. I don't think anyone does that anymore, but I know I can't give it up before everyone, everyone else is doing it. So I don't know what that means. The Beatles met in art school, I guess. So for some reason, for some reason, the veins of art, making art and making music stays weirdly combined. There's so many people that do both. I know an artist here who's a great artist. He's also So as it turns out, at concert level piano, a pianist just incredible. He just, you know, he fills his studio with Chopin and Rachmaninoff. And you think, Oh, my God, I'm at, you know, a great concert hall. So I don't know why that is, but anyway, side note,

Laura Arango Baier: 58:18

yeah, no, but historically, it makes perfect sense. Historically, there's always been a very close tie in between the art and the music, right, like the usually it was the paintings came first, like the romantic paintings, and then the romantic musicians came right? It's always just a little bit ahead, and it's inevitable that, you know, imagery would influence music, and the music itself would influence imagery as well. I mean, there's just so much in there. And I've also met a lot of painters who are also musicians, or at least they will never have a silent moment in their studio in music from there. So yeah, that's another

Russell Gordon: 58:57

thing, and sometimes not not listening to music that you would think a person painting in that style would be listening to, you know, painting a, you know, an exquisite classical portrait. And, you know, like tool is cranked up to maximum volume. How do you do that? Yeah, that is great. Well, so when I so at that point, I got, again, the lucky angels were sort of fading me and I got, I got invited to be the, what do you call it, the person who works under another person, an apprentice, an apprenticeship. I was asked to be, to apprentice to the artist will Wilson, who was also, you know, probably one of the most prominent graduates of the Schuler program. And I jumped at that, and I was like, yes, like, so I was in his studio, whenever I wasn't in the school studio, and they're both in Baltimore, and so will was in a band. And so, you know, I was like, I'm not going to be able to get I'm not going to be able to put music. Away these guys, you know, after, after the they put their brushes down, they all head out to clubs to see bands and, you know, musical acts and so much takes place in that environment. People talk and they get to know you outside of the, you know, the studio environment, and friendships and bonds were formed in that environment, too. So I had a hard time explaining, you know, to my grandparents that actually, I do need to go clubbing. That's like, it's like networking for artists. It's critical to my career that I, you know, stay out till two in the morning at, you know, seeing some obscure art rock band. But that's, you know, that was the scene, and then there were great, great days. But anyway, yeah, art and music for sure.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:00:48

Yeah, very, very tied together. Yeah, I don't think I've ever met a single artist out there who hasn't felt that connection with music. I think also, because music can hold a feeling so easily, and it's so much easier to focus that feeling into a painting when you have that input of music that's holding on to that feeling for you. Oh, yeah, yeah,

Russell Gordon: 1:01:11

yeah. I can, I can look at a painting that. Fact, this is a really common experience. I'll look at a painting or an image of a painting that I did, you know, let's say eight years ago. And the first response I have to seeing that image is remembering what I was listening to, you know, like, what, what new, you know, band I was listening to, like, oh, that's, that's right, that's, you know, I painted that when the second cranberries album came out, and I really got into the cranberries. And just like, like, just like, why should write these things on the back of the canvas, like was listening to, you know, this podcast when I was painting this painting. Somehow these two things you need to know that to really understand the painting. So, yeah, yeah, the music is, is critical, yeah,

Laura Arango Baier: 1:01:55

yeah, totally. And then I actually, I wanted to circle back just for a second to the galleries, because, you know, you've had some experience, obviously, with galleries. And I wanted to ask you, what would you recommend to someone who wants to work with a gallery today?

Russell Gordon: 1:02:14

There are some great galleries out there, and especially like I work in in a certain style, a classical style. So the galleries that I am lucky enough to be represented by that's kind of their, their main thing, you know, they, they have artists that work in that style. There's so many another. I think it's hard for a gallery to market, you know, an abstract expressionist next to, you know, it's a tight a hyper realist or a photo realist, two things are a little like what maybe they can so I would say, if that's what you want to do, and that is the traditional route, find galleries that suit your work. You see other artists who fit in that family, that sort of theme or style of art, don't it seems like now, so you have a lot more. Like I said, in my dark days, you had to send out physical packages in the mail of slides, and the only way that you could really become aware of a gallery was maybe to visit the city that you'd heard the gallery was in to go visit the gallery personally, which is always great, or in magazines, galleries advertised in magazines. So with the internet, I mean, I think you know, new artists, young artists, just have so much better access to see the galleries and see what they're doing. If, if, if it's not working out, or if the gallery says, No, don't, don't. Despair. They're it's they're saving you a ton of of trouble. It's not meant to be, or at least not right now. And maybe if they give you constructive criticism by saying, you know, this is not where we're going right now, or we only show paintings with these three colors, and you don't use other colors or whatever their arbitrary reasons are. Take it, let it go, and consider yourself fairly traded, because it's the only thing worse than, probably worse than not finding representation in that system, is finding it and then having it, you know, squandered or put away in, you know, storage areas, which I have definitely had that experience. I think most artists have had that experience, and then no one's seeing it, and that's no good. I mean, you, you don't want that. So if they say thanks, but no thanks, say thank you for considering it, I appreciate your time. And you can say, do you recommend a gallery that you think might might be a better fit for me? And sometimes they do. Sometimes they were very happy to do. That I think most galleries are actually run by people with a vision for their space. And you know, they have to stay faithful to that. It's a business, after all. So they're generally pretty, pretty good, that way, pretty helpful. It can be intimidating, I think, but don't be you know, you're an artist for your own reasons, and you believe in yourself enough to sit down at the easel every day and paint so your work is good, and have faith in that you'll find the right gallery or exhibition space when the time and the place is right. So don't give up. Don't give up. But like we all know, it's can be daunting. It can be daunting. And so you know, discouragement can be, unfortunately, part of the experience. So just you know, hide of a rhinoceros, it's not personal. And never give up. That's what I would say. Never give up.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:06:06

Yes, very beautifully stated, yes, very wise words and yeah. And speaking of daunting, actually, what would you say is the biggest challenge you have faced personally in your career as an artist?

Russell Gordon: 1:06:22

Um, missed the biggest challenge. I mean, that's a kind of a conceptual question, that is a good question, that's a frightening question, because all the all the demons are there going no, this is what you should be very afraid of. For me, on a date, like on a daily, working basis, the greatest challenge is the day after. And by which I mean, I find myself having an idea for a painting, and then it's euphoric. I'm rushing into that it's going to be great. And the experience is a thrill ride, and it goes phenomenally well. I paint a really, really good painting, and I'm so happy with it. And I go to bed with a big smile on my face, and I come down to the studio the next morning and go, What, where'd that painting go? What is this on the easel? It's not, I don't. What happened, you know, did gnomes come out in the night and repaint the whole thing. So, so that difference something happens, that wave of of dopamine, I guess, or euphoria that you have when you're on the crest, crest of of a new creation and the and the difference between that and just the cold reality of the next day, the morning after. I call it that's just tough. But, you know, you surf through it and you try to get back to feeling good about it. I think it's actually pretty healthy that way. I think if you felt that you're nailing it from, you know, from the first sketch to the frame, I think, you know, you might be delusional, because you need to look at it more critically. So that voice that that you hear on that second day is there for a reason. They're there to say, Okay, calm down. You're on the right track. But let's, let's hone this a little bit, because you really do want it to be the best it can be. And, yeah, yeah, so, but yeah, so I don't know the voice of doubt. I guess the voice of doubt is the hardest thing, you know, yeah. And how do you know when you're in an environment, when you're in an art school environment, for, I think, at least where we went, you know, you had your teacher behind you to tell you precisely what was wrong with that painting. And you also had, you know, your cohorts in the school year students who happily share their opinions on it, which is good a critique. I guess they call it in mainstream programs, the crit. You know, the famous crit. But when you're working on your own, you don't have that. I'm there again. I'm blessed and lucky because my wife is an artist, and she's in the studio, and she will come and tell me exactly where I'm going right and where I'm going wrong. And, you know, sometimes I can go, no, no, I think I'm going to continue down this path. I see what you're saying, but I'm going to keep doing this. Usually regret that she's usually right. That second set of eyes is pretty good. But if I'm not answering your question, self doubt, I think is the biggest challenge. Yeah, yeah, for a reason. Yeah. I mean,

Laura Arango Baier: 1:09:32

I was going to say that, and this is probably going to sound a little bleak, but I have asked artists who have worked 40, 5060, years right in this career, and when I asked them about that, about doubt, does it ever go away? They always say, no, never goes away.

Russell Gordon: 1:09:57

No, I believe it. Yeah, I believe it. Because. A dialog. Dialog, you it is a conversation, I guess, with yourself. And there is a voice in every creative person that says, okay, good. You can like playing, you know, hot or cold children's game, you know, hot or cold, and you're getting hotter, you're getting warmer, you're getting warmer, you're getting colder, getting colder. So that's a dialog inside your in your crazy head, and it's, it's, I don't know, it's okay, it's okay. He's going to make peace with that voice and realize that it's trying to help you, you know, like, don't, you know, don't, don't. Just do the good. Just do the good thing. Don't do the bad thing. Just do the to make it good. You know

Laura Arango Baier: 1:10:38

exactly, exactly. And to your point, you know about it. You know, it's the sober voice, you know, in the morning, like you said, to really temper that delusion of the excitement of a new piece. I mean, I've totally been through that. It's like, Wow, I did not notice the nose was huge on that. Like, how did I not catch that? Or, Oh, my God, that eye is floating to the right a little too much. Yeah,

Russell Gordon: 1:11:01

yeah. Well, one device that I was lucky enough to learn about having in the studio is a mirror. I don't know if you use a mirror, but I have a big sort of a dressing mirror here over my left shoulder that I can when I'm painting. I can look over here and see the reversed image of the painting. People come into the studio and think, this must be the vainest man alive. He just sits in front of a mirror all day, and why? So mirrors help. And as far as the doubt goes, what was Hemingway's quote was, you know, write drunk and edit sober and so, and I think he actually probably meant that literally, so don't, don't paint drunk, but you're going to, you're, you're in the row, and you're in the rush of the creative flow. It is a little bit like, you know, what is inebriation. It's a thrilling rush of, you know, sort of that sort of free feeling. Then the next morning, morning after the editor comes in, and they're not putting up with with all that stuff, they're going to just pick it apart and tell you how to make it better. You need both those things for sure.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:12:17

Yes, yes, yeah, that editor just loves to roll up its sleeves and just make you cry a little. And, you know, it's, it's worth it, it's worth it in the end. Because, like you said, sometimes it will make the difference between a good painting and a painting where you can say, Wow, this is a great painting, right? There's it. Obviously, it's about tempering, you know the whole process. You can't go too much into the hyper critical. You can't go too much into the extreme infatuation with the idea of whatever painting it is that you're making, which I agree is very, very similar to drunkenness in a lot of ways. Um, this is,

Russell Gordon: 1:12:57

it's a Somerset mom's razor's edge, I guess is your your balancing on the razor's edge between, you know, the conscience and the and the sub conscience, I guess, great place to exist.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:13:15

Yeah, it's a difficult place to exist, but it is important Yes, to the quality of the work that we produce, especially because, and I like to say this, we don't, we don't do this for the money. We do this because we're freaky people who like to be obsessed with images we see in our heads, which is kind of, it sounds kind of crazy when you think about it. That's exactly right.

Russell Gordon: 1:13:36

Yeah, that's, well, we'll put, put, write that on a rock, as they say. That's exactly what it is. Yeah, it's

Laura Arango Baier: 1:13:43

the job description, exactly. Oh my gosh, that's Yeah. Artist delusional. But I also, yeah, I wanted to ask you to if someone wanted to become a full time artist, what advice would you give

Russell Gordon: 1:13:59

them? Yeah, I had people ask me this. Usually it's parents of of kids that you know are showing a bent towards, you know, art. I struggle with it. I don't have a one pat answer for everybody. If you're at the point where you are seriously considering it, I would ask myself, I'm sorry to be cynical, but I would ask myself, Is there anything else I can do? Because if there's something else you can do and have any level of contentedness in your life, maybe do that, because art, being an artist, is just sometimes, it's just sometimes terribly hard. But if you're past that point, and the answer is, No, I can't not do this. I have to do this, then I know it's hard not to recommend my own path. I would say train, go study, if that means taking workshops with artists. That's awesome. You find artists that you admire. Take their workshops if you really want to devote to you know, like a like, like, we've been. Talking about an atelier classical program, apply and and go train yourself. You know, if you, if you want to be a doctor, you have to go to medical school, just just training, and it will make you a better artist. Don't be afraid that you will fall to conformity anything, but that it's quite the opposite, yeah, but make sure, absolutely sure, that that is what you want. That's Joseph Campbell's follow your bliss. If you know, if you're on someone else's path, it's easy, but it means it's not your path. So that's makes it inherently hard to to forge your own path, but it can be done. I think, you know, young people have a better in a lot of ways, a better way of it now, than older people other generations. The Internet means you can go on and and study with people you admire on YouTube. You have YouTube tutorials and things like that, things that are just amazing. I just use YouTube mostly to fix my dishwasher and stuff, but there's other stuff too. You can learn how to do noble things on YouTube. So pursue it. Take it seriously. Don't be discouraged, or at least, don't let the discouragement take the driver's wheel for too long, and never give up and enjoy it. Don't forget to enjoy it. It's a, it's a it's a passion and a great luxury to be able to do it to any degree. You know, if you're painting in a garage or a bedroom or a palace. It's your space, it's your it's your sanctuary, it's the quad, the qua. And so you're you're where you need to be. And how often life do we get to say, I'm exactly where I need to be. I'm in my studio. This is where I am. This is where I am. The me is to me, I mean, the true me, beautiful. So I don't know platitudes and nonsense advice, but if you want it, go get it. Go get it. Whatever

Laura Arango Baier: 1:17:16

it is, heck yeah. Heck yeah. I love that. And actually, since you just said, Go get it, there is something I want to ask you about, which I'm really excited, because I have yet to see the images. But I am intrigued, because before we started the interview, you mentioned some of your newer work and that you will also be doing a show. So I am intrigued to know the direction that you are taking your work. So tell me about

Russell Gordon: 1:17:43

it, right? So I came, I came into it. I honestly thinking about it. Now I'm not sure a little bit I was in a in a moment of kind of desperation, more like anxiety. Things had slowed down a lot, and COVID was still recently in the rear view mirror. I mean, just felt the landscape had changed. And and I said, I'm just going to do this, this kind of one off thing. It wasn't entirely new, but the series is basically animals, which, again, is sort of in my wheelhouse, not too far from it. And so I was compelled to to anthropomorphize them, to put them in human roles. So portraits of of different animals. It's early yet. I mean, I've only done a few of these things, but for whatever silly reason. And you know, again, I'm, you know, pictured sort of Beatrix Potter painted formal oil portraits of animals in velvet waistcoats and things I do too. And I think I realize that there is something, I think there's imagery that goes into your head as a kid. And we're maybe talking to about the, you know, the books, children's books, and how they were. They had these great illustrators. They had, you know, Norman Rockwell. They had NC Wyeth, who Rickman, I can't remember all the names I'm blank on, but they were just the most incredible pen and inks and paintings and and they stuck in there somehow, and and now they're sort of pouring out, not just the work, but the joy of of doing them. I literally, I turn around to this mirror. I have a numb I'm smiling, I'm laughing when I'm doing it. I mean, it's just a joy. It's not silly. I'm taking it very seriously. I don't mean that. I just mean that I found something that I had maybe put aside a little bit, which is a child like joy for painting animals. Now, the thing is, I'm not for whatever reason there when I wish I knew. A reason, maybe a mistake, but they're in their martial themes. They're kind of military themed lately, so at least the first batch are, and I had no idea what the response to that would be. And again, still, it's early yet, but so far, it's been really good. And so when you get encouragement, you stick with it. So I'm going to do a show. I'm going to have a show, excuse me, at principal gallery in Alexandria. It's not till next October, but it's a it'll be a solo show, so it'll involve a lot of work. So I will be in the studio working towards that goal, with my animals, with my animals, that

Laura Arango Baier: 1:20:44

is so exciting. Oh, that is so exciting. I love it. I love it because I can definitely see in you, you have that little gleam in your eye when you talk about it, where you're just like, oh, this. This makes me feel fulfilled, right? It looks like it's something that you know, you wake up all morning and you're like, I want to do that right now. Yeah.

Russell Gordon: 1:21:00

Yeah. No, literally, you get ideas for these kind of things, you know, like a start keeping a journal by bedside, because you'll just have a dream where, you know, a badger comes to you in a, you know, in an army uniform, and I go, that's, I don't know where that came from, but there's painting there somewhere. And so, yeah, menagerie in oil paint. But yeah, having a ton of fun with that absolutely, you know, still doing other things too. So it's not, it's not 100% of what I'm doing, but it's certainly a new, new chapter. It's a new chapter. New a new path.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:21:43

Yeah, I love that. I love that so much. That sounds so exciting. It's so wonderful. And I'm, I'm man, I'm so excited to see the paintings. So, yeah, that's great.

Russell Gordon: 1:21:55

I hope so. I hope so. Like I said, it may be, you know, something that six months from now, I'm kind of, you know, curbing back a little bit, or changing, going in a different direction, and that's okay too. But for right now, I think it's going to be pretty cool. I'm pretty excited about it. Heck yeah,

Laura Arango Baier: 1:22:13

heck yeah. Where can people see more of your work

Russell Gordon: 1:22:18

so well, at that one, at that at that show for sure, at principal gallery in Alexandria, Virginia, which is just on the Virginia side of Washington, DC, which, again, is come my sort of my home turf. That's where I grew up, down there. And then I'll have the first show coming up will be at the Collins gallery that's in Cape Cod and, and they'll be doing a show called bringing in the May capital M and, and that's an annual show with some really great artists that it's just an honor to to hang next to you. Honestly, they're just so amazing, um, and that's that's in May, that'll be online and in the gallery as well, so I'll have work there, and then busy calendar. This year isn't always but this year really is kicking off with firecrackers. So I have another show next December at the wells gallery in it's not in Charleston, but it's near Charleston on Kiowa Island. And Will my wife and I both be doing a show there? It's a two person show, and that's next December, right? I think right before Christmas, maybe the 11th or 12th of December. So there's three shows to work towards, and that's the that's where the newest work will be and then, of course, you know, we have our our website at Gordon art studio.com, you can see both of our work there. Though, as we discussed earlier, I need to maybe put the brushes down just long enough to keep that a little bit more up to date. Have been great being the being the webmaster of that one. So again, the technical aspects of it, it's not my not my strong suit, but it's a great, it's a great web hosting service, and they make it easy enough with all the templates and things. So there's no excuse, but Gordon art studio com is the other place. And of course, I'm on Instagram more than I should be, and that's mostly it that keeps me pretty busy

Laura Arango Baier: 1:24:26

so well. Thank you so much, Russell for your wonderful, kind, amazing, warm presence and your advice. Thank you.

Russell Gordon: 1:24:34

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me and the invitation to to come and and go on about things that are in my crazy head and to share my work that is really, really great opportunity. So thank you. Yes, of

Laura Arango Baier: 1:24:50

course, you.