Indeed, once I dig a little deeper, I learn that Craig has had a knack
for drawing since childhood, a time when he had a special interest in
cartoons and caricatures. “I got myself into a lot of trouble in
school with caricatures,” Craig laughs, “and it’s debatable
whether I ever grew up or not. It depends who you ask.” Since then,
Craig’s work has evolved toward mastery of still-life, portrait
and landscape painting – the kind of art that looks like it should
be hanging somewhere in the Louvre alongside the work of the greats.
“I’m not sure when the button actually clicked and I switched
to fine art,” says Craig, “but at one point I decided to get
formal training. I had to commit to being an artist come hell or high
water and I also had to buy in seriously to the idea of being by myself
to make a career as an artist – I’m almost used to that.”
Craig now produces about 30 to 35 pieces a year that “get a frame
and leave the door.” Of those, about four are commissioned (usually
portraits) and the rest are sent out to the four galleries that represent
him – two out west, one in Michigan, and one here in Door County
at Edgewood Orchard Galleries.
On this day, Craig is finishing a 48” by 62” oil on linen
painting that hangs in the center of the studio’s east wall. I recognize
the woman in the portrait from around town and, since I do, my appreciation
for Craig’s skill rises even more than the average viewer’s
might. The portrait is so dead-on it looks as though the woman and the
two horses beside her might walk right out of the painting and gallop
off into the picturesque meadow that just happens to be Craig’s
front yard.
To the left of the painting is an equally large replica in black and white.
On the west wall are two other much smaller replicas, one in black and
white and one in color. I quickly surmise that this is the process. It
starts with a thumbnail sketch, as Craig explains, or a “very cursory”
first whack at a subject. Next, Craig makes the smaller black and white
and color pieces which pre-destine what the final portrait will be, then
the large sketch is made for scale, and finally the soon-to-be masterpiece
I’m now looking at. “I practice the figure along the way,”
says Craig, though I catch myself finding the word “practice”
almost as hard to swallow as “instruction.” Each of the four
pieces is so accurate and imbued with talent that I hope, for his sake,
he’ll at least brag about what must be an extreme aptitude for patience.
But it’s not just the accuracy or the ability to make a subject
appear true-to-life that strikes me about Craig’s art. There’s
also what I would call, for lack of a better term, “mood”
evident in his paintings. So I ask: How do you choose your subjects? How
do you consider your subjects? Are these paintings meant to be philosophical
statements or are they purely representational?
Craig’s answers get me closer to understanding where talent, patience,
and instruction meet to create such captivating artwork. “I don’t
know where it comes from exactly,” says Craig, “but I do think
you have to pay attention to your obsessions. Those tell you what you
should be doing. I read somewhere that one of the biggest time-wasters
is an unclear objective and that really spoke to me. Being cognizant of
why you’re doing it helps you answer questions throughout the process;
if you can’t answer those questions, it all becomes directionless.”
With the portrait of the woman and her horses, for example, Craig indicates
that it’s easy to be seduced by painting and the process. “I
can get really into painting one of the horses and forget that it has
to relate to everything else. The painting is meant to express this woman
at this age. It’s not about the horses, but about her relationship
with these two animals.”
In tandem, Craig emphasizes the importance of knowing what “intrigues
you about a view.” Listening to Craig while looking at the meadow
outside the studio’s front windows, I gain a better grasp of how
his paintings are born compositionally. “There’s a center
of interest, a secondary point of interest and then subordinate parts,”
says Craig. “The color or texture of those grasses against the blankness
of snow might intrigue me; then everything else gets taken away.”
As for whether his artwork is philosophical or purely representational,
Craig comments, “Yeah, it’s representational, but so much
of what’s beneath that is abstract. You hear a lot of ‘art
speak’ about traditional painting and contemporary or conceptual
paining being different, but I really think there’s more of a brotherhood
than that.” Glancing again at the paintings in his studio, I’m
convinced once more that it’s not just about the angles, colors,
and perspectives – the things I imagine “instruction”
would impart to an aspiring traditional artist. It’s about the ability
to capture the likeness of a subject while revealing to the viewer just
what is “intriguing about a view” – something most would
agree Craig has a superior gift for.
Since first coming to Door County about 10 years ago, Craig has made a
deserving name for himself. In addition to his painting schedule, Craig
also commutes to the School of Representational Art in Chicago once a
month to teach, is a faculty member and the Artistic Director of the Kewaunee
Academy of Fine Art, and serves on the Peninsula Art School’s Board
of Directors, among other things. Craig seems more than content to be
in Door County and having finished his studio (completed in August of
2004) he shows no signs of leaving any time soon. “I enjoy just
being here and doing it,” says Craig. “That sounds like a
gutless answer, but it really is a privilege to do what I do.”
