Gerard Adams

A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE ARTIST

1. What do you do when you’re not making art? (Day job etc...).

My wife, Amy, and I have three kids, Finn, Rohan and Edie. We also have two Chihuahuas, Suki and Luna. When I'm not painting, I run a couple of companies. I manage art collections, curate and design exhibits/experiences at Media Rare and distribute local food at WM FarmLink.

2. Why do you make art?

I started making art so I could leave something on my children's walls when I'm gone, a legacy thing. I've worked with other people's art and been a designer my whole life, but I never crossed over to actually painting myself until recently. So, I painted until one of my kids said they liked it (which was not the first.) Then, I had to make two more good ones. By the time I reached that goal, other people expressed interest in them.

3. What inspires you?

Nature. We live across the street from the campus of Aquinas College. I walk there a couple of times a day (if I'm lucky.) I have a favorite tree along my usual route. This beautiful, bold, spindly, mature, deep red Japanese maple comprised of two main branches. I was away for work a couple of years ago and a storm went thru our neighborhood. I didn't realize it until I came upon it, but the tree had been sheared in half. It survives to this day, retaining a new, different beauty, known only to us who knew it before. Perception is more than just what we see.

4. What/who are your influences?

Artistically, there are several local artists I like... historically, Mathias Alten, Reynold Weidenaar, Armand Merizon. Current artists doing things that always catch my eye include Stephen Duren, Rick Stevens, Michael Pfleghaar. I am trained to appreciate all art equally, but I love walking into rooms housing these artists.

5. If you could meet anyone dead or alive who would it be?

I'd love to have a drink with Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, co-founders of the theory of natural selection. One, Darwin, thinks of the basic concept and works tirelessly for twenty years to “back up” his assertions. Wallace, under the haze of an equatorial fever in Indonesia, has the same insight in an instant. He then writes a short overview to Darwin, as kind of a mentor, for his thoughts. Even though Darwin has exhaustively worked to back up his theory, he gives Wallace credit as a co-founder. I guess I'm a Darwinian painter, now looking for an occasional Wallace moment.