Untitled from Pentomino Solutions Series 53 by Douglas HolstThe second half of our interview with Milwaukee artist Douglas Holst about inspiration, shapes and art.
MS: Was your childhood full of shapes?DH: Sure. Tinker Toys, Leggos, Fisher Price, Lincoln
Logs, etc. It is intersting how Modernism affected
toys, and pop culture in general, and vice versa.
MS: Have you ever done mural work?DH: Yes, I have done several large wall paintings. I
don't like the word "mural" though. to me it implies
something picturesque, or illustative. The largest
one I did was a 9 by 500 foot wall painting on three
connected walls. That was at The Institute of Visual
Arts (inova) here in Milwaukee. I did a permanent one
in the reception area of the Milwaukee Art Museum. I
did a temporary one at Navy Pier during Art Chicago a
couple of years ago, and I just got back from Portland
where I did a wall painting for a show called "Fresh
Trouble". I would like to do more, but it is a little
more involved than doing an easle painting.
MS: Favorite and influential musicians?DH: Bach, Beck, Magnetic Fields, Red House Painters,
Townes Van Zandt, Nick Drake, The Clientele, Belle and
Sebastian, Iron and Wine, Josh Rouse, the Jayhawks,
Low, Tom Waits, Dylan, John Lee Hooker, Eliot Smith
MS: How did you learn to draw?DH: Mostly by drawing. I had some good teachers who
helped too. There was a strong emphasis on drawing at
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where I went to
school, and I have always appreciated having a good
background in drawing. I think drawing is very
important. I have not drawn a single thing from life
in 8 years. My definition expanded somewhere along
the line to include designing and composing. I can't
bring myself to draw from life anymore. It all smacks
of illustration.
MS: What's your favorite medium?DH: About ten years ago I switched from oils to
acrylics, at the same time I quit blending colors. I
like acrylics OK. I usually draw with colored
pencils, and markers on graph paper. I try not to
fetishive mediums though. I'm more interested in the
broader ideas.
MS: Do you use the computer as an art tool?DH: People often tell me that I should. Maybe they are
right. I am still kinda old school though. I still
like working with my hands. For my pentomino
paintings I hooked up with a mathmatician who let me
download a program for finding different "solutions"
to the problem I was exploring, and that helped a lot.
I've never drawn on the computer. I barely know how
to check my email.
