Before the show, AV staff asked him about his life and his art. We thought it would be hard to nail him down, instead it was a great opportunity to get to know him. Here is what he said.
AN INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST BOB PEJMAN AT AMERICAN VISIONS ART GALLERY MAY 2007
When did you know you wanted to paint – to create art?
I started to paint ever since I was in first grade. Art was always something that I was strongly drawn towards. However, it was not until I was 28 that I realized I wanted to paint as a profession.
Does anyone else in your family paint?
Although most of my family members are artistic, I am the only one who paints. Both of my parents are classically trained musicians and my brother plays the guitar and drums.
Why are so many of paintings scenes from Italian locations?
For some reason I have always been drawn to Italian scenes. There is a sense of romance and history in Italy that I have found nowhere else. It is one of the most magical places in the world. I love the combination of the warm earth tones in its old architecture combined with the blue tones in the lakes and ocean. Italy can provide many life times of painting material for an artist.
What is it about your paintings that you think reaches out to everyone?
I paint locations where most people want to be. Few people would pass up an opportunity to go to Lake Como, Venice, or Capri. In fact many of my collectors have had great memories of places that I paint, and for the rest, the paintings inspire them to visit the locations of my paintings. I have actually had collectors who bought my paintings ask me where a certain location of one of the paintings is so that they can specifically visit that location on their next trip. I have also been told by couples who have bought my paintings that they spent their honeymoon or wedding anniversary in a location of one of my paintings. I find all of this to be very rewarding.
What do you most want people to like most in your paintings?
I would like them to appreciate that while my paintings are based on real settings, there is a great deal of artistic license that I use to give a near-perfect sense of balance and beauty to already beautiful scenes. I take the scenes much further than the way they exist. So, I get comments such as “I don’t remember Bellagio being this beautiful and perfect”. And my answer is that “It is not – I improved on an already heavenly place”.
Who was your strongest influence in painting?
The strongest influences in my paintings are Victorian era masters such Sir Alma Tedema and Fedrick Lord Leighton. I have also been influenced by the old Italian masters of the 17th-19th century.
Some say your paintings have some of the same sentimentality of Maxfield Parrish – crisp, clear and with a slight fantasy. Would you agree?
Maxfield Parrish is also another great artist who has influenced me. Some of my paintings such as “Sorrento Sunrise” have been strongly influenced by Maxfield Parrish. I have also been inspired by the sense of what I call “set design” that I see in Parrish’s paintings. A few noted art critics have described my paintings as having the feel of “theatre set designs”. I think the same can be said about quite a few of Maxfield Parish’s paintings.
They say a painter bestows small gifts each time someone looks at his painting. What gifts/feeling are you trying to evoke through your paintings?
The gift of making the viewer feel good. I would like to think that my paintings take the viewer to a different time and place where the every day worries disappear and replaced by peace and tranquility. Almost as though you can lose your self or escape into the paintings.
You show your art all over the world – what is it that has drawn you to come to Folsom over the last few years?
Some of my best collectors are in Folsom. I find the local residents to be very friendly and they appreciate and collect art. I also love the old downtown feel of Sutter Street. I find it very cozy and comfortable. It is one of the few places that I sell art that has not been commercialized. I hope that it will remain this way.
What advice would you give someone who longs to paint but isn’t sure if they have the talent?
I am going to be politically incorrect here and say that talent is at least 50% of the game and can not be “learned”. The rest of the equation is passion, choice of popular subject matter, great sense of color, and marketing. You need all to become successful as an artist.
But as long as you want to paint as a hobby, then talent alone will do. I think that the surest way to measure one’s talent as a novice is to see how quickly you progress in becoming a better artist once you start painting. If the progress is fast enough, then you have the talent. So, the only way to find out if you are talented or “gifted” is to try. Find a good teacher and give it your best shot.
We’ve heard you are a fine pianist. How do you find the time to play?
I wish I had more time to dedicate to playing the Piano. Once in a while when I get my hands on a Piano, I play for 5 to 10 minutes. But, I learned a long time ago that you can not spread yourself too thin and master too many different things. For now, I will focus most of my efforts on painting….and playing the piano will remain a distant and delightful hobby.
If you didn’t paint for a living, what other profession would you like to have?
This is an easy question to answer. I would love to be a composer and write soundtracks for movies. Actually, collecting motion picture sound tracks has been my hobby since I was seven years old.
Last question. Bob, how do you want to be remembered?
I would like for people to look at my paintings long after I am gone and admire the time and passion that I put into them. I would like them to say, “this artist didn’t take any short cuts, he painted passionately, with a lot of thought and care, and it shows”.
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