9 Questions to the artistWhat is your desert island CD? "I like a lot of different music but if I had to choose it would be a Frank Zappa CD. My dad was a big fan, and Zappa's drive to compose great music was an inspiration." What venue has been the most influential to your artwork? "I'd have to say the Chameleon in Lancaster. They have been very open to what I do." What do you think about when you paint? "I abandon my thoughts, I don't start painting with any preconceived notions. I try to clear my mind. It's total freedom, anything goes. My art comes from that freedom." What do you think of Lancaster as an "Artist Community"? "It adds to the Lancaster community. [Lancaster] is a great place in general. There are a lot of small businesses opening their doors and the area is not commercially based. [It is] a great place to start, it's small, you don't get lost, everyone can know each other and understand what everyone does." What part of painting do you personally find most satisfying? Most challenging? "The most satisfying is the freedom to do it and knowing that I can do it any way I please. I like not having any limitations or rules. The most challenging can be setting up in a crowd because of the tight confines and I can't move about freely. Dancing during the performance is part of the creative process." What qualities define an artist? "True passion spells true art." What is your preferred medium? "I would have to say acrylics because they dry quick, I do like oils for at home, but they don't dry as quick enough for live painting." If you could do things all over again, would you choose the same path for yourself? "Everything is meant to be. [People should] not [be] bogged down by mistakes. [Be] happy with life and learn from it". Do you have any advice for someone interested in art? "Don't listen to anyone but yourself. Listen to your heart, not just your mind. Keep it pure and real—don't paint if you don't feel it." |
Featured member:
Sean "Paint" Poole
One Artist's Musical Vision through Performance Art.
By Anne Kirby & Christina Martin
If you're a regular at the Chameleon Club in downtown Lancaster chances are you've seen our featured artist Sean Poole in front of his canvas, taking in the music and energy around him, and communicating that energy through his paintings. Often working in the dark, he can't fully see the paint as he mixes and swirls it together but rather relies only on his senses and the memory of where each color is always systematically located on his pallet. He dances to the music, entranced by all that is going on around him, and is often surprised by his own paintings at the end of the night when the music is over and the crowds disperse. His paintings really become an extension of him and how he sees and feels the music.
Looking at Sean's work you would think he has been painting since he was really young, but, believe it or not, that isn't the case. Born in New Jersey, Sean always loved to draw but wasn't exposed to painting until he was forced to take it in high school due to an over crowded wood shop class. Little did he know that this one class would change his life. With influences such as Van Gogh, Pollock, Leroy Nieman, Mattise, and Scramble Campbell (a well-known performance artist) and encouragement from his high school art teacher, Sean sharpened his skills and painting became his passion.
Christina and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Sean a few days ago to get to know this amazing artist a little better. After graduating from the Art Institute of Philadelphia, where he earned a degree in graphic design, Sean and his wife Erin decided to move first to New Jersey and then, almost two years later, to Lancaster.
Sean started doing performance art in February of 2003 at a Second Sky concert, and it worked out so well that he hasn't stopped doing it since. He has painted at many festivals and concerts around the area always looking for the next big event to spark his interest. With canvases (he sometimes uses recycled signs that he gets from his job as a graphic designer at a local sign shop), paints, and easel in hand, Sean heads out almost every weekend producing not just one, but multiple paintings in a sitting. His paintings can take as little as nine minutes to paint or up to three hours depending on the show and venue; recently while at a George Clinton concert, he produced four paintings in the time it took "the King of Interplanetary Funksmanship" to perform.
When asked what the bands think of his live art performances at their shows, Sean said that "most bands are cool and are open to what I do; I've never had a band tell me to go away." And when asked about his inspiration at the shows, he stressed how the music and rhythm carry him: "I feel the music and go with it, dance with it. It's a natural progression—I never force it. I pull from the energy that comes from the band and the audience around me."
As our interview continued Christina and I couldn't help but be impressed and awed by Sean's talents. The paintings covering his walls are like wallpaper giving you a new visual experience at each glance.
As we asked Sean about his family, he talked very fondly of his wife Erin and six year old son, Clay, his parents who ended up moving from New Jersey to York, PA, and his brother who is also an artist. With many hobbies ranging from gardening to travel, Sean has toured with Phish and traveled across country: the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee and the West Coast tops his list of favorite places. (And we discussed everything from his first job at a golf course for a Veteran's Administration Hospital in NJ to his first concert as a child.)
What really impressed us besides his paintings was his willingness to work with people who want to buy his work. He doesn't paint for the money and believes that art should be affordable for everyone and not to just a select group of people: "It is important to keep it accessible, so we all can benefit from it."
After two hours flew by and we figured we should rap it up. Knowing we just touched the surface with Sean, we're really looking forward to seeing him work his magic as he dances his way though yet another dazzling painting. This artist expresses his musical vision through his performance art and Lancaster is a better place for it.
For more information on Sean Poole's paintings check out his Web site at www.seanpoole.com