I love to rub shoulders with other artist and creative thinkers. I realized last week that I had an opportunity to highlight one such artist... James Kaminski ...extraordinarily gifted man (and my good fortune to be his neighbor).
You can see the rest of his extensive work at:
www.kaminskidesigns.com
With his permission I have posted some of his work from a couple different sites, and used exerpts from an interview by Phillip Clark, an Art Critic at THEARTPOINT FORUM in NY, NY.
ENJOY...
How did you first come to the Great Lakes landscape paintings? They are beautiful and mysterious. They seem to embody both an impasto technique as well as a soft watercolor fluidity that is energized. The light in them is completely alive. Were these plein air works?
Thank you I am glad you enjoy them. I have spent a great deal of time on the shorelines of the great lakes region surrounding Michigan and areas bordering Wisconsin. I do on occasion pack my paints and camera in a backpack and hike or mountain bike for days on end exploring the endless compositions of the rock formations and light and shadow. It is abstraction of nature in its purest form. I am not concerned with pretty pictures as much as I am capturing or translating the truth of what I see, feel and hear. I become totally consumed by the experience.
I have a studio where I stay and work in Wisconsin located on the cliffs of Lake Michigan. Accessibility to the beaches and cliffs are available to me at any given season or time of day to roam and study.
I am fascinated by the sharp extreme austerity of some of these areas, particularly the dune regions where I find vast rolling valleys of sand, rock and water. I find a sense of uncomplicated presence there, as though life stands still.
There is very little, if any, reference to vegetation, trees or man-made objects. The shadows and sun-bleached colors morph subtly as there is luminosity that emanates from within and without. I see my brush strokes as steps leading the viewer from near to far. As a result, people have told me that as they stare at my landscapes they can“become lost inside’. That is why, in many cases, I refrain from any visual references other than the beauty of the terrain as it is. Once I place an image like a tree for instance, the painting is now about the tree, since now it becomes a reference point.
I tend to strive for that effect in all my painting, leaving the observer the opportunity to see what they see ….I am just the conduit channeling the vision I have experienced.
Your figures have a surging energy to them – visually, and in the way you actually paint them. Interestingly, it seems you have captured not only the internal spiritual music – the literal breath and blood – but also the sense that we are “wired”. It’s a nod to technology, and yet a dismissal of it. Can you discuss this?
As participants and recipients of the artistic process, we’re not meant to be passive and inert, but to be active and engaged in the process. I believe my best work energizes or provokes people to personally interact with the information - similar to what might happen between two people during a stimulating conversation.
The fact that you’ve observed that “wiring” in my work indicates that the expected outcome was communicated. That’s a very satisfying outcome for me and I’m thankful we were able to actively share in that communication process. That’s what I strive for as an artist whether I’m working with oils, cameras, or clay.
(James' spent his early (pre-computer era) years as a medical illustrator and graphic artist)
(This is one of my personal favorites)
You taught and mentored many students.
How valuable do you think an art or design education is?
The education system has to focus on developing creative thinkers and stop teaching the idea that art is simply creating pretty pictures. Students need to be empowered by their educational mentors to think of creative ways to change the world and, more importantly, help prepare and equip them for the real world with the tools to accomplish their creative visions. Teaching student’s art and how to think creatively has nothing to do with what grade they receive but more with what skills the student has been given to better visualize, interpret, and execute their ideas proficiently.
I have stressed to the student’s I have mentored over the years that they will need to be truly passionate in what they create to truly make it in the arts. They will need to work hard to live a decent life as an artist and survive in such a competitive environment. James Kaminski has been successfully involved in various aspects of community, residential and business development for 40 yrs. His diverse background and experience in interior renovation/design, craftsmanship and fine arts has allowed him to work with some of Michigan’s leading successful entrepreneurs in areas of marketing, design and project development. His career has allowed him to develop community and vocational centers, many restaurant/hotels, retail projects and residential development.
Since 1970s he has been a advocate in the adaptive reuse of construction materials and ecological friendly approach to design. James is dedicated to help individuals realize their dreams thru teaching a ‘hands on’ approach to developing successful new and innovative creative skills for trades or business. He believes creative human spirit is essential in creating change and is the foundation for the development of new business and alternative educational skills that are so important in today’s socioeconomic climate.
Thanks for joining me today
and journeying into the realm of
"Kaminski Designs"
The bees are busy doing their job and preparing for the months ahead... In fact they were on the verge of being in a "frenzy". They were everywhere buzzing, crawling and clumsily flying around these majestic stalks.
Isn't it amazing...such thought and structure is the underpinning of our world. 
