It’s been an interesting past three months. How has your work been affected by the coronavirus?

MS: Janet and I had an exhibition on March 10th at the a+c architects gallery space and we saw it as a prelude to our exhibition at Vivid Art Gallery in April. Being that it was towards the end of the winter season, which is the time I work on the figurative paintings, I had a substantial body of work in the figurative style. I was still doing carpentry during those days and lots of painting at night and on the weekends. I was making great progress, pushing hard and burning the candle. When the pandemic came and my carpentry work stopped, I began to put all my energy into my figurative paintings. Expenses were an issue, but at my age I knew this was likely my last chance to direct all my energies into painting and honing the figurative skills by using all my time, knowledge, techniques, and stories that I had acquired. I have put my abstract work on hold for the time being even though we have moved into the warm season. My opinion is that it worked! It lived up to my greatest expectations! Now, for the better no doubt, I’m back at work still burning the candle.

JT: Art is always a challenge and a blessing. In the past few months it’s been more of a blessing. I feel so grateful to have this place to direct my expression and my attention. For me, life and art are interwoven so I’ve been painting abstracts which suggest the lake, Lake Michigan, which I adore. I never know what I will find there, it’s different each day. My daily walks or bike rides to the lake are not just for physical exercise but also to experience the wonder and happiness the wind and waves deliver.

Matt, what was your process for creating these works of art? Do you paint what you see or from a photograph?

MS: The process I use to paint the figurative paintings started back in the late 60s when I was first introduced, in a inspirational way, to van Gogh, Gauguin, early and late Picasso, Lautrec... etc. Drawing! It starts, for me with drawing. I may put on large or small color forms, or not, of any number before line but it “starts” when I use line. Line to depict a figurative, symbolist, representational object. In my heart, at that time, I don’t feel it as a symbol but as the true object, a woman, a nude, a face, a car, street corner. I create these as if I am bringing them to life! At the same moment I use them to compose, not consciously but by second nature. When I draw, which I do often, I draw from life, meaning that I look at objects, scenes, people, dogs, cats, buildings as I draw then. Not constantly but keeping my gaze busy between the paper and charcoal and the objects being rendered, doing so, avoid judgment or failure. I enter a state of mind that allows harmonic composition to be a natural occurrence. The non judgmental state. More then trusting in myself, I do not exist. It takes the competitive and the inadequacy out of out sphere. Then, I am able to travel outside of my sphere. The “Weight is lifted!” This is where I start with the figurative paintings. As it develops, I go through all the controlling elements associated with inner fear, stumbling around, kicking over this then that, which, in turn, can give the painting a rich history as well as an indication of humility. It’s not until I am forced, by the frustrating fact that I’m not able to unite the whole, that in desperation and anger I give the control of my present condition and return to the belief in a higher order, the absence of self. In that condition, the painting skills are second nature and create the true expressions of my feelings. Hovering in a half state of observation. I am able to possibly witness the chance of a new way of seeing, a higher vision than I have previously experienced. New knowledge, it has to be that, what I have never understood but have now acquired. It is a rung on the ladder that brings us closer to being one with our world.

Janet, you have said before that you’re an experiential painter, meaning that each brushstroke is laid down in the moment. Were these paintings created in the same way?

JT: We can observe a profound and universal connection from one part of the world to another in the art of children. Children are unrestrained in imaginative experience and play. Imagination “unforms” the images supplied by perception. This malleability gives rise to new forms which merge the visible perceived world with freshness and possibility. The paintings are improvised, always, in order to retain these qualities. Then there is the structure of the painting which is just as important. It’s a balance between structure and expression.

Matt, you seem to be returning to a very colorful palette. What role does color play in these works?

MS: The role color plays in this most recent group of figurative paintings stems mainly from my observation of the painting itself; certainly not the observation of local color. On a thought level it has to do with tone and how it is contrasted. The color, for me, is a part of a group that makes up what I am calling tone or sound. Light, dark, rich, thin, shade, color… How does it sound? A better answer then how does it look? It keeps it abstract. Our eyes are so integrated in our brain and when we paint figuratively we are more susceptible to the outer influences of the intellect. It is the inner influence we want to emerge, the bridge; the bridge that connects our soul to the out side world or just to our understanding and to our actions. To get an authentic migration of color is the most difficult operation. One of the primary objects from this underground is color. I want the choice of color to be from my soul and not from my mind. So I must avoid using it on a conscious level. I don’t want to define myself; I want to find out who I am.

Janet, how has teaching art had an impact on your work?

JT: As a teacher, my aim is to teach process, so my students can have wonderful experiences and discoveries while creating their work. They are their best teacher. I encourage a lot of discussion which allows them to articulate what they’ve learned. So the students learn to develop personal skills, unique to them.

Their work is fabulous and inspiring to me and I learn along with them. There is so much preparation for each class, I try to make it interesting for myself so I know it will be interesting to them. This way I make many discoveries of new techniques and skills that definitely show up in the work.

Matt, you create both figurative and abstract works. Recently, you seem to be focused on figurative work, mostly city scenes and many include figures. What has inspired this body of work?

MS: Over the last few years or more I have painted abstracts during the warm summer months. I can work outside on large pieces and have plenty of space and good ventilation. I use a certain medium that is a bit toxic. The medium has good results for what I’m doing. Mid-October and the colder weather reduces the fluidity of the paint which is meaningful to my technique working with abstracts. I then move indoors, switching to a healthier medium and more suited for my figurative expression. The switch to figurative at that time of year came as a result of the inability to use the strong medium inside the studio. It’s a bit of a leap each year but beneficial to the minds flexibility, the strength gained from and articulation of a different craft.

In 2019, at the beginning of the cold season I let go of the abstracts as usual and began my figurative painting. A short time later, I became engaged with two opportunities to have my work shown in public. This in itself was inspiration enough. As I started working, my abilities seemed so much more advanced then the previous figurative season. I had a much bolder approach. I was able to focus on what was happening on the canvas and not so much as to how I was going to get there. It was a state of mind. The ideas and changes I made did not have to be thought out to be transferred to the canvas, I could just do it. Now the greater part of my energy could be the observation and physical effort running on its own. This unexpected departure from the labor of mentally engineering and physically manifesting also inspired and energize my efforts.

Janet, what is your inspiration for this body of work?

JT: The healing quality of water, specifically, Lake Michigan.

A Conversation With Artists Matt Schaefer and Janet Trierweiler