This week’s artist spotlight, brought to you through a collaboration with the Concord Insider and the Concord Arts Market, features Jeff Newman, who lives in Concord. Creativity plays a large role in his work across a variety of forms.
Newman shared with The Concord Insider more about his work.
Concord Insider: Tell us about your art.
Jeff Newman: I am primarily a surrealist. I work in a variety of mediums, including painting, collage, mixed media and assemblage. I am presently interested in the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, which is finding beauty in deterioration. This has led me to a series of landscapes of old barns and stone walls, which were seen at Market Days.
CI: How did you first get into your craft?
JN: I have drawn for most of my life. During college, I was instructed by several amazing artists. I was also a patent illustrator for 30 years.
CI: What does art mean to you?
JN: Art defines a lot of my life experiences. It is a language for me. One of my earliest memories is of visiting the Philadelphia Art Museum in a stroller at age one-and-a-half.
CI: Where do you find inspiration?
JN: Dreams, nature and visions.
CI: What does your creative process look like?
JN: I get a concept. I sketch it out and decide how to render it, whether as a painting, a physical collage or a sculpture. Then I play with the idea and make edits before producing it.
CI: What advice do you have for other artists?
JN: Just do it. Practice and repeated practice will build your dexterity. Leave some play time to fully explore the idea. Then make it happen. Stop deliberating about it. When it’s done, you’ll know whether you have succeeded in presenting your concept.
CI: Where can we learn more about your work?
JN: Newman Art Studio Newman_ArtStudio@instagram.com