(Image: Plyscape by Stephen Gleasner)

Stephen Gleasner is an Appleton, Maine artist who has worked with wood during a career of over twenty years. He specializes in carved and dyed wall pieces, called "plyscapes", that explore the layers of plywood and its wonders with low relief carving. Stephen's work has been featured in “Wood Art Today” by Dona Meilach (Schiffer Publishing, 2003) and “500 Wood Bowls” (Lark Books, 2004), as well as in numerous periodicals, including “The Rob Report” and “Luxury Living”, among others. He demonstrates wood turning nationally and teaches at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine.

When did you first realize that you were going to be an artist and when did you first start making art?
I don't feel like an artist, but I feel like I am becoming one. I make things. I struggle to capture a thought or emotion in plywood. There is nobody to go to, no guru to help me. Nobody does this kind of work. It is wonderful and scary.

Who or what inspires you?
Moments. Epiphanies. Fear.

Is (was) anyone else in your family in the arts?
My mother is a writer. My father is a photographer. The way they live has a lot to do with me thinking that I am normal. I have been told that I am not...

Are you self-trained or did you go to art school?
I received a minor in industrial arts. That planted a seed, but it was a process seed, more about material than design. Process is very important. It is a dance, but without the music of design in there somewhere the work won't have life. It's a constant balancing act as to how loud to play the music, how much to focus on the dance.

Is the process of creating your art long or short?
I don't keep track of time spent on a piece. Sometimes I get stumped and let the work sit. I might come back to it months or even years later, with a solution to what was bugging me. Those are feelings of real victory.

(Image: Plyscape by Stephen Gleasner)

Tell us something about your work.
Do you have a subject matter that defines you as an artist?
I guess people identify me with my material, plywood, as much as they do the subject matter. Right now the seascapes (I call them Plyscapes) really speak to me. The plywood has held a fascination for me for many years. I like the layers, the different rates of absorption that the layers offer. I am not done with plywood. It is rich. I think it will be clear to me if it is time to move on. For the time being I don't mind being called "the plywood guy".

What makes you stay with a particular subject matter? Why are you drawn to it?
People have a deep fascination with the sea. Watch them at the beach. It is natural to look out at it. It could be dead calm, with no sky features, yet we search the horizon. Any "event" out there, a ship, an island, a spectacular sky show, just makes it more attractive. It is something most people identify with. It resonates down past their core, into their genetics. It is a form of meditation that we still hunger for.

How do you stay motivated?
As I get older, my perspective changes, so does my knowledge. I guess I am curious as to what I might do next. Curiosity motivates me, . I get very much outside myself when a work is really cooking. I like to watch me working. It may sound strange,but working makes for discovery, discovery paves the road for motivation, and new things happen, things that I could not have foreseen, wonders that come from the mysterious well of creativity. More meditation talk I suppose....

What have you been working on lately? Are you experimenting with anything new?
My latest piece, an 8 foot wide triptych (somebody called it my "Plytych")had some major breakthroughs in it. The piece was a success. I am looking forward to taking this new knowledge to my next piece .

Has your medium changed from when you first started out?
I started out as a cabinetmaker. It was bad form to show the edge of the plywood. The idea was to make plywood look like solid wood. I didn't realize it for many years, but that bothered me. A trickery. A dishonesty. Now, I show plywood honestly. The layers have become a device, another tool to express thoughts and emotions, not just a thing to build stuff with.

What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
You need to believe in what you do, because there will be times when others do not believe in your work. Plan on that being the case most of the time. You need a strong internal compass. A large emotional flywheel. Art has to come from deep within you. You are an artist, because you find it impossible to be otherwise. I don't see it as a choice.

What kind of comment do you despise the most when overheard at one of your openings?
A woman once said to me, "Too sad". She was looking at one of my Plyscapes. That made me happy that I imparted a piece of plywood with any emotion at all. So, I guess the worse comment yet has been good.

What kind of comment pleases you the most when overheard at one of your openings?
I like the comment that looks for words that are not there. I have been lucky enough to have seen a couple of these. Where they start and are so moved that nothing comes out. That is a real privilege to be able to connect with another person in this way. And with a piece of plywood, who would have thought.....

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?
Without my wife and her job, I think I would have dealt with it a lot less well.

Do you have any outside interests other than art?
My kids are my biggest reason for being. They are 8 and 5. I loved them as bald headed babies. They keep getting better as they define themselves as people. I like to write. I like mountain-biking. I did a bicycle race in the summer of '08. It changed how I look at the world. I would like to take my son on that same route that we raced our bicycles on (2,800 miles through the outback of the Rockies, from Canada to Mexico). I am working on a plan to do it with him on a dual-sport motorcycle.

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?
I am disciplined and spontaneous. I am spontaneous until a deadline looms. Then I tap into my superpowers. I am capable of things that amaze me when I need to make a deadline.

(Image: Stephen Gleasner at work)

How would your life change if you were no longer allowed to create art?
That thought makes me sad. If I couldn't work with objects, paintings, I guess that would be OK. But if I could not express myself in some way, like writing, and it were permanent, I guess it would be time to start looking for an ice-flow to float away on.

What's the best part of being a full time, working artist?
Flexibility. Inventing a career as you work.

What's the worst part of being a full time, working artist?
Inventing a career as you work. If you are a nurse, that is specific. You have certain criteria that defines you in your profession and you work within certain parameters and you get paid nice and neat. You know when you are working and when you are not. Artists are never on vacation. The line between work and not-work is fuzzy. And this worst thing, it is very cool too.

Do you have any upcoming shows?
I have some things in the works that are not yet finalized.

Where can we find your work?
Talk to Jana at Carver Hill Gallery in Rockport, she really understands what I am up to. My work has also been in exhibitions throughout the USA and beyond.

>click here to visit Stephen Gleasner's website

> click here to contact Carver Hill Gallery in Rockport, ME

- Brenda Bonneville, editor

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