Dark Matter Magazine

After art school, Ray Bartrip left painting behind to tour Europe with his rock band. Years later, the brush is back in his hand. Ray’s surreal paintings reveal his sense of humor as well as his artistic skill. In this brief interview, he gives us an inside look at his creative process and inspiration…

What artists do you enjoy and who influences your work?
My particular favourite is Magritte, I hope we may share the same sense of humour. Some of his pictures have actually made me laugh out loud, not always the done thing in a hushed gallery! Of course I like many of the original Surrealists, Ernst, Dali, Delvaux, everyone really. Also I enjoy the work of painters from other periods, like Bosch or Goya, for example and the wonderful technique of the Renaissance guys. I also enjoy the work of many “modern” artists, whether it be technique or ideas, as long as they don’t take themselves too seriously.

Your paintings have a great sense of humor. What role does humor play in your creative process?
Humour plays a very big role. Many of my pictures are the result of hearing odd snatches of conversations which generate an amusing image in my mind. Sometimes I let my mind wander and create “what if” situations, if the resultant image amuses me then I will draw it in my sketch book, to be painted later. Some, of course, are directly from dreams.

Do the images in your paintings reflect specific ideas, or are they chosen for their visual aspect?
Almost all my pictures attempt to represent an idea, a feeling or a different way of looking at things. Some, as I have said before, come directly from dreams, such as “Unidentified Blue Object” and “The Lover”. Very few are painted purely for their graphic qualities, “String” is one exception, it still amuses me.

When you are working on an image, is the completed image in your mind’s eye or does it change on canvas?
The completed image is always formed in my mind long before I start to paint. I may have sketched it in my book as a reminder, but the image stays in my head. Sometimes, particularly with dream images, there is also a feeling about the image which I must try to communicate to the viewer. Whether I am successful in this I am not sure. Sometimes the image will change slightly on canvas entirely due to my inability to paint it properly.

“And the Others had Pepperoni” depicts a grim reaper that isn’t frightening. “Charlotte’s Apple Dumplings” shows the common toilet as a spectacle. Is it the task of art to make people re-examine their world?
Definitely. In fact “examine” would be a good start. Most of us, in our daily lives today, have no time to consider our spiritual or inner self and we become too concerned about time management, materialism,paying the bills and what we perceive as success. I think it’s probably fair to say that most of us are a bit confused as to what really makes us happy. By actually making the effort to examine any aspect of the world we spend time in, I believe we can benefit from the enhanced viewpoint or perspective and start to make more sense of our relationship to it. By providing examples of a different way of looking at things it may encourage others to do the same.

In your bio, you talk about completing paintings that you had started twenty years earlier. Was it strange or difficult to return to work that you had abandoned for so long?
Not really. I have a very good memory and I was able to recall the feeling I had about the images originally. This enabled me to carry on as though I had only stopped yesterday.

What part of the process of painting do you enjoy most?
The thinking bit. I love to let the images form in my mind, often they surprise me and I wonder where they came from. I may rework the image in my mind for days or weeks until I know it will look good on canvas, usually without regard to whether I can actually paint it or not and whether it will challenge the limits of my technique. This forces me to stretch myself and try to paint new things which I have never attempted before. The painting is the painful process of copying the image in my head, and getting it right!

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 10:36 pm and is filed under painter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.