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Painting with Fire Painting has often been viewed as a solitary pursuit – the lone artist privately agonizing over the canvas, struggling to express the buried genius inside. And only when the masterpiece is complete will it make the final journey into the light and be viewed by admirers and critics alike. Russell Maier, a Canadian web designer in Costa Rica has flipped this perception of the artist on its head with his innovative gatherings that make creating art a social event. “The basic idea came from a fellow art-loving friend, Fredrick Markowski, who invited artists to paint at a party of his, to entertain,” says Maier. “We went one step further and got everyone at the party to paint.” Days and sometimes only hours after Maier decides to throw one of his parties, friends and even friends of friends trickle onto the patio of his Escazú bungalow, bringing with them food and drinks and a willingness to share in the experience of art-making. “It only takes two to make a painting party,” says Maier. “But with each additional participant who joins the fray, the collaborative energy stands to rise. As it rises, it can take the creative process and the party to yet a higher level.” With a non-existent budget for art supplies, Maier and the others use any paint available, including donated cans of left over house paint. This scarcity of resources only seems to enhance the collective experience, with people sharing and exchanging the paints and brushes as needed. Some, like Christina Morera, have never painted before and face some interesting personal challenges at Maier’s parties. “I felt fear,” Morera says, when confronting the blank canvas for the first time. “Before you start a picture. It’s white. Nothing has been done to it. It has no mistakes. As soon as you start doing something to it, it can go in a good or a bad direction. You change it every time you touch it. Even though it was white, I was afraid to ruin what was there.” But it wasn’t just the white canvas Morera was afraid of. “I compared myself to the people next to me. Not only was I painting for the first time, but doing it in front of people I didn’t know. I had to overcome my insecurity and a sense of creative limits.” Then she just closed her eyes and drew a line down the canvas with a pencil. And that was the beginning of her transformation. “Everyone has the power of expression within them,” says Asha daCosta, another participant at Maier’s painting parties. “Every child can cry, but many adults don’t allow themselves to. It’s the same with artistic expression. It’s a vulnerable place.” Maier believes confronting fears around art-making leads to a deeper creativity and a willingness to explore and experiment with personal style and technique – to literally learn to paint outside the box. A more recent innovation for Maier and his painting pal, Patrick McCormack, has been painting with fire -- a spectacular if not hazardous technique of painting. After painting a canvas, strips of newspaper drenched in kerosene are laid out on the canvas, before being scorched with flames shot from cans of spray paint. This non-traditional technique is one of McCormack’s favourites. “It brings out the performance artist in me! I’ve courted the fringe of chaos and abstraction in my art for years, and it fascinates me to witness the moment in which creation occurs, when an aesthetic entity is actually ‘born.’ It keeps me coming back for more!” “Life is made of moments,” adds Maier, reflecting on these fiery creations. “All art, all paintings, are moments captured, and in effect moments themselves. The brevity of the fire painting's moment magnifies colour and meaning to an exceptional height.” The parties have been so successful that in the last 2-3 months, Maier and his friends have had about 5 parties (though no one is really counting) and three art exhibitions, including at the Country Club, Entre Comillas, and Café Artista. “The collective experience is a communal event, yet it can be solitary in the
As some go about painting, others occasionally hover around, commenting and giving suggestions on the work being done. New painters like Morera welcome the input, but she also recognizes the inherent subjectivity of art and critique. “Everyone can have the same brush, canvas, colour, and yet create something completely different,” explains Morera. “Not only that, but each person will read the painting totally differently.” Morera believes you must follow your own instincts, even if someone else doesn’t like your work. This, she says, has made her a stronger person. “It makes you believe in yourself and what you do,” she says. “Now I’m not afraid of taking on new challenges. Every time, I have something challenging me, I think of this experience.” The great thing about painting parties is that anyone can have one at any time. Unlike zipline tours in Costa Rica, there are no patents pending on “art parties,” and Maier encourages others to take up the incendiary torch of collective art-making. When Morera told her parents, who are business consultants, about the fear she had to overcome painting, her mother was so impressed she used the exercise of painting in a group for a seminar addressing the need for managers to think outside the corporate box. For A-type personalities it can be a very difficult thing to relinquish control, especially when it’s done before peers. “People really really liked it,” says Morera. “They came to the seminar expecting someone to tell them how to change their thinking, but instead they were made to participate.” Maier believes that painting alone can be an intense and solitary journey that provides the artist with the focus needed to create deeply personal works. “In contrast,” says Maier, “painting in a group accepts the role of others in our journeys of self-discovery. This can lend itself to all sorts of exciting innovations and discoveries that would otherwise never occur to the solitary painter.” See more work on Russell Maier’s personal Website: www.Russs.net
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