Q&A with Ken Cadawallder

Collegian reporter Tory Cooney sat down with the featured Professional Artist Ken Cadawallder last week to find out what inspires and challenges him.

What first encouraged your interest in art?

My dad used to do these little cartoons when I was a kid and I was just amazed that you could take a few lines and create an image.

What inspires you?

The way I see somebody standing in a room, traveling and seeing something new, a painting, anything really. [Inspiration] is just something you stumble across, and you never know when it’s going to hit. If I knew exactly what inspired me, then I’d be inspired all the time.

What other artists inspire you?

Artists such as John Singer Sergeant, Seurat… I remember when I went to London and saw a JW Waterhouse that almost brought me to tears. They are all big influences, and that’s to name just a few. Living artists I really enjoy include Richard Schmid, David Labelle, Bert Silverman.

What type of artist do you consider yourself?

There used to be two types of impressionists, the colormen, who used tiny dabs of color, and the brushmen, who used long, gorgeous, luscious sweeps of [color]. Nowadays, it’s more a combination, and the term I’ve heard coined is “representational expressionism.” But I’m not quite sure what that means…regardless, that’s what I do.

Why this particular medium [oil paint]?

You can paint wet on wet, or let it dry and paint over that. If you don’t like it, you can scrape it off. I can just control it better than others, like watercolor. It’s just very versatile, and I like that. I’m not a high-pressure painter.

(Cadawallder paints Cassondra Bacon '10 for a demonstration on Saturday, Jan. 30. Photo by Elena Salvatore)

What is the most difficult part of a painting?

You never know what’s going to be the challenge. On [the demonstration painting], it was her neck. It could be the eyes, a mouth…it seems random, and it’s always a surprise…but almost everything with art is a surprise.

How do you continue to challenge yourself as an artist?

I try different things and do my best to avoid getting into a rut and doing the same thing over and over again. So I do things out of the norm for me…I paint with a paintbrush, so I might just take out a palette knife and try to do something with that

What do you do when you are “in a rut”?

The only way to get out of a rut is to paint yourself out. Just put the brush in your hand and keep going. It may take hours, it may take days, it may take weeks. But if you keep going, you’ll find your way out. Something will happen and you’ll get excited again

What is your favorite painting that you have completed?

Whatever I’m working on at the moment. Paintings are just the end product of a process. The process is what’s fun, you just happen to end up with something at the end.

(all photos by Elena Salvatore/Collegian)