(Image: "The Day Begins" by Peyton Higgison)

Brunswick Artist Peyton Higgison has influences including such disparate artists as Herbert Bayer, MC Escher, Picasso and, most recently, Wolf Kahn. His mother is well known artist Merle Izard, and Peyton credits her with being the first to teach him the art of drawing and mixing paints. Higgison says, “After nearly 30 years of creating images, it's difficult to pinpoint, but the sky on a wind torn day, or a passage of music might be all I need to inspire a piece. My medium—oil pastel, the most saturated and creamiest I can find, mixed with transparent oils and sometimes the crazy touch of collage—has led me into images I would never have thought of. This medium has been both a leader as well as a tool. Many a “mistake” has led me to new discoveries and thus richer images.”

When did you first realize that you were going to be an artist and when did you first start making art?
My mom was a professional artist and my dad a professional musician, so it seemed pretty natural to go into the arts. I did not make the real decision until my second year of college. Then I applied for art school in Maine (PSIA now MECA) and did the four year stint. I began showing in galleries (Barridoff Galleries in Portland was my first) and doing outdoor art shows my second year of art school.

Who or what inspires you?
Life in general. Ideas come at any time. I come up with ideas while driving or skiing.

Are you self-trained or did you go to art school?
I went to MECA (Maine College of Art).

Is the process of creating your art long or short?
Not too long. I generally can finish one of my large pastel/paintings in about 3 or 4 days.

(Image: "Out in Left Field" by Peyton Higgison)

Tell us something about your work.
I'm working two different kinds of subject matters and mediums. My landscapes are coming more from my abstract past and sometimes can have a bit of Richard Diebenkorn for instance. They are usually vast skies, long fields and lone trees, and done with pastel and paint. My pastels are mostly wild women and crazy dogs.

Do you have a subject matter that defines you as an artist?
I usually have a number of different "styles" going on at once. For quite some time, while I was doing abstract serigraphs and drawings for galleries and shows, I was doing extremely large arial view paintings for schools around the state. I was a licensed pilot at the time and did my own photography as studies for the paintings. They were very cool to do. I added a lot of collage material and worked in the pictures from magazines into the landscapes. At some point, it began to become a little too second nature so I moved on.

What makes you stay with a particular subject matter? Why are you drawn to it? How do you stay motivated?
I stay motivated by being sure to have a lot of other interests to get me out of the studio.

What have you been working on lately? Are you experimenting with anything new?
I'm having a lot of fun with the wild women themes. Between that and the landscapes I'm staying interested.

(Image: From the Wild Women Series by Peyton Higgison)

Has your medium changed from when you first became an artist?
Totally. I started off as a printmaker doing very hard edge abstract serigraphs.

What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
Don't plan on being famous. It's all about the journey... not arriving.

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?
I separate myself from being "artist" and put on the "business" hat. Presentation and market are key. For me, doing the outdoor art shows has been my bread and butter.

Do you have any outside interests other than art?
I am a professional telemark skier and run a business call New England Telemark (I'm a level 3 PSIA instructor). I also shoot skeet and sporting clays competitively. My wife and I have a very sweet camp on the Back River in Arrowsic where I like to spend time. We also have a couple of horses, and I enjoy riding them. My real love is piano and I play classical as well as compose and write songs. I'm a total amateur but share my playing with online recitals and on Youtube. I spend two hours every morning in my music room on my acoustic grand.

Are you disciplined about your creative process (in other words, do you treat the process like a job, where you keep particular hours in the studio), or are you more spontaneous?
If you want to be a professional artist you have to be disciplined.

How would your life change if you were no longer allowed to create art?
As long as I would still have my piano I would survive. Take my art and music and it would be a pretty bleak world.

(Image: "Above, Below and the World in Between" by Peyton Higgison)

What's the best part of being a full time, working artist?
My own time, my own boss... doing what I love.

What's the worst part of being a full time, working artist?
When the economy goes bad professional artists are some of the first to feel it. Plus, if you show your work at outdoor shows the weather can really spoil your weekend. What can be a fantastic show one year can be a zero the next if the weather is really bad.

Where can we find your work?
On my web site (www.peytonart.com) or at a show. Also, my wife and I built a little shop/gallery at our house called the Wilder Woman Country Store and our prints and some smaller works can be seen there.

- Brenda Bonneville, editor

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Nicely expressed. Merle Izard 2011-09-05 21:18:33 The "What advice would you give to an artist just starting out? "Don't plan on being famous. It's all about the journey... not arriving." This is something every artist who is just starting out should take note of and remember always. Thank you for this interesting interview. M. Izard

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