Philip Jamison (1925–2021)

I rather liked the look of this book...or rather the painting styles he exhibits. Rather like Andrew Wyeth in style......and actually, also, in subject matter. In fact there is a sameness about the paintings shown in the book: the endless paintings of farms in the snow and the white daisies in vases ...or sometime in the landscape. One of the things that I DID like about the book was the total honesty and frankness he brings to discussing his work....the materials he uses, his inspiration and his failures. I also liked the details about his set up and what he took with him when painting in plein air.
The subtitle is "A creative approach to painting landscapes and still life in watercolour" but I'm not sure that I really observed this creative input. Maybe it comes with his interesting changes in perspective.....demonstrated by a photograph of one farm and five studies of the same farm from different angles. I must confess that I really like the way he works with snow .....though the weather seems to be incessantly sombre, overcast and rather miserable to my way of thinking. (Then I've grown up in Australia where snow is something one has to travel to see and actively seek-out).
He admits to being inspired by Andrew Wyeth (amongst others) and although he is certainly not a copiest of Wyeth .....there are very strong parallels. (Maybe that's what attracted me to the paintings in the first instance).
I did like the openness with which he demonstrates how he develops a painting and he has many sequences showing the development of a work. I was wondering how he was regarded by the American establishment and, although he lived to the ripe old age of 96, he seemed to skate around greatness. Maybe he lacked a good publicist; maybe it was because he seemed to do all his work in watercolour; maybe it was because he just stuck with West Chester, Pennsylvania and never seemed to move from there very much. But I noticed his paintings selling at auction recently from somewhere between $700 and $2,500. Reasonable but not likely to have him living in luxury.
Overall, I liked the book. Maybe slightly self-serving ...to promote his work. But also quite useful to other watercolour artists. Will I keep it? No. I'll donate it (though mainly because I'm trying to "downsize" my library at the moment). I give it three stars.… (mer)