Following the “Lights” series I was searching for a theme that would hold my creativity and inspire me. I was painting everyday and from this emerged a flower series.
I was trying to tighten the brush further and establish a style and gain more control over each stroke. Moving from freedom and accidents to something with more intent.
Bakersfield Museum of Art “Bryan Ida : Life of Change: A Retrospective” September 28th, 2023 – January 6th, 2024
Following the renaissance series I added a full palette of color and explored glazing and layers with my “Lights” series in 1999.
In this new direction the imagery began to have intent and to represent something as opposed to gestures and abstract forms and the brush became more disciplined.
I was always intrigued by the limitations of the visible color spectrum and how it relates to the audible spectrum of sound waves. Within this limitation of perception there lies unlimited variations and combinations.
Bakersfield Museum of Art “Bryan Ida : Life of Change: A Retrospective” September 28th, 2023 – January 6th, 2024
Many of the concepts of music are with me to this day with harmony and melody being prime examples. Harmony in music builds the base upon which melody can soar to unencumbered expression and emotion. This for me correlates to a technique in painting called glazing where thin transparent colors are layered on top of each other to build darkness and depth.
In 1997 I discovered a technique used during the renaissance where they used many layers of paint to build a transparent, luminous black instead of an opaque, flat black. The colors used were yellow ochre, burnt sienna, terre verte green, alizarin crimson, prussian blue and aureolin yellow. In order to learn more about glazing and building a luminous dark I reduced my palette to these 6 colors. You can see the luminosity coming from the back instead of light highlights painted over the top.
Bakersfield Museum of Art “Bryan Ida : Life of Change: A Retrospective” September 28th, 2023 – January 6th, 2024
A tool I frequently use is to reduce my palette to black and white. This allows me to further explore the properties of oil paint while only having to think about value and composition. As I paint my brushwork continues to get tighter and I begin to find my own voice with ideas pouring out of my head on a daily basis. I remember the anticipation of going into the studio to see what would happen that day.
There is something to be said for simplifying what is around you so that one can appreciate its fullness.
Bakersfield Museum of Art. “Bryan Ida : Life of Change: A Retrospective” September 28th, 2023 – January 6th, 2024
My work is always changing and has evolved radically from my earliest work to what I am currently painting. I have always followed my intuition, but it takes a certain bravery and belief to abandon a series that might be lucrative to chase a new idea.
Sometime in 96-97 while working in oils I reduced my palette once again to just blues. I didn’t feel like I had the connection and ease with blue pigments that I had with red and yellow. I remember understanding the subtleties between red and yellow pigments and the varying shades, tones and tints of the pigments, but I didn’t feel the same with the blue hues. I decided to limit my palette to blue. I was still derivative of Sam’s free, broad stroke style, but I was working to try and get more intent with the brush while turning a weakness into a strength.
Bakersfield Museum of Art. “Bryan Ida : Life of Change: A Retrospective” September 28th, 2023 – January 6th, 2024
After exploring acrylic paint for a few years and learning something of how it works I was intrigued by oil paint with its different nuance and properties. I completely abandoned acrylic for oil looking to learn some of its secrets. The movement and its reactions were completely different from acrylic, not in a bad way just different. I explored familiar imagery, but the pigments reacted completely different in thinner and air and I knew I would explore this medium much more in depth.
With these early oils I was still working on paper trying to complete a painting a day as I continued my exploration into color, form, and emotion using this new medium. My painting journey has taken me through many mediums and techniques with one constant, I visualize something and try to figure out how to do it in my own way as I attempt to connect with viewers and evoke an emotional response. I always learn with deeper conviction when I figure it out rather than being told what to do.
Change is life, Life is change.
Bakersfield Museum of Art. “Bryan Ida : Life of Change: A Retrospective” September 28th, 2023 – January 6th, 2024
From my beginning in acrylic paint I have always looked to innovate, move forward and push the boundaries of my skill. Rather than live a life of artistic stasis and repetition I chose to embrace change. I change my work every 4-5 years sometimes sooner as I like to experiment, learn and allow the work to evolve while these trials take me in different directions.
As I go through my archive and travel through time to these past series I remember some of my thoughts that went into the work. I did a lot of work on paper early and just threw them in drawers and packets where they sat for 25 years.
At times in an effort to push myself and learn I will reduce my palette to just black and white or a single color. In this early period I began utilizing charcoal and acrylic to study value and gesture as I continued to use the expressive, large-movement language of abstraction that I started with. I was looking to distill movement and create a context as well as find something cohesive, complete and powerful as the focus of my brush narrowed.
Bakersfield Museum of Art. “Bryan Ida : A Life of Change” September 28th, 2023 – January 6th, 2024
Im going through my archive establishing a timeline of my work in preparation for my retrospective at the Bakersfield Museum of Art.
“Bryan Ida : A Life of Change”
September 28th, 2023 – January 6th, 2024
I will post this timeline as I write it in a series of posts.
Coming from a musical background where one learns by intense practice, repetition and gathered knowledge I applied this method of learning to my new medium. With no formal training and an intense desire to learn I painted something new every day. I would examine what I did the prior day, contemplate the lesson and finish something for the new day. I felt comfortable with the creativity, but the challenge was to figure out how to express that creativity into something deeper using the eyes instead of the ears.
I continued working in acrylic figuring out flow, bleed and viscosity. I used visual elements and gestures from movements of the past to feel with my own hands how gestures are laid down in paint.
Untitled 84 x 54 acrylic on canvas 1993
“Nature Balanced with Spirit” 38 x 58 acrylic on canvas 1994
“Between Fear and Desire” 24 x 36 acrylic on canvas 1994
“The Storm Outside” 36 x 48 acrylic on canvas 1995
I am honored and thrilled to announce that I will be having my first career retrospective at the Bakersfield Museum of Art opening September 2023. Titled “Bryan Ida: A life of Change” the show will cover my beginning into painting as I transitioned from music 32 years ago and continue on following my evolution as I worked through series after series in a constant quest for knowledge and the ability to communicate.
Early on I had dedicated my life to music but my life changed when I went to work for Sam Francis as his studio assistant in the 80’s. As I worked for him he helped me realize that the artistic language that was most natural for me was visual and I had the ability put together visual thoughts and phrases much easier than with music. Through his generosity he allowed me to paint in one of his studios that he no longer used and I started my life long journey into painting.
I started painting initially in Sam’s style but always wanted to move away from his identifiable technique. The first 5 years of my painting career is very derivative, but you can see me push away from the expected.
These are the first three paintings i did as a painter. I distinctly remember exploring how certain acrylic pigments moved into water while others retained their form.
