May 24, 2000

Former builder trades in pallet knife for paint brush

Traverse City resident takes third place in statewide art show

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Calling himself a hobby artist who got lucky, painter Don Newsom recently walked away with third place in a statewide all-media show at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey. His oil painting, "Rain on Sleeping Bear," was Newsom's third foray into juried art shows, a surprising venue for the retired building contractor who took up painting just six years ago.
      "I was so honored by this," said Newsom, who paints in his studio at his Lake Ann home. "I just got lucky. You do your best work no matter what and every now and then you run into a juror who looks at your work and says, 'I love it!'"
      His best work was good enough this time to catch the eye of the show's juror Stephen Balance, an art instructor at Northwestern Michigan College. Balance noted in his written remarks about the show that Newsom's painting was "beautifully visualized and finished" and that he was "most moved by the subtle but extremely rich palette" Newsom used in his painting.
      The style that caught Balance's eye is hallmark of Newsom's work at this point. His rich, textured landscapes and still lifes, with their vivid detail and striking colors, allow him to bring what he sees to life on canvas.
      Many of his paintings recreate a setting around his rural home and the countryside nearby. These northern Michigan scenes inspire Newsom and he takes numerous photos of the wildlife, back roads and country scenes that typify the region. If the painting calls for it, Newsom does not hesitate to add a deer or turkeys, or perhaps rearrange the composition or resize items of the scene as needed. He also keeps a photo of the scene that inspired the painting tucked into the frame of each finished work, pleased to display both the scene that inspired him and his artistic enhancements.
      "Nature makes a beautiful picture but artists have to improvise to make a beautiful painting," said Newsom, who moved with his wife, Donna, to the area in 1992. "I do work from photos of an actual scene but then I take an artistic license in the painting."
      After Newsom retired, a lifetime interest in art metamorphosed into a disciplined, self-guided study of painting. Always a sketch artist, he used his suddenly open schedule to begin painting with a vengeance. Completely self-taught, Newsom avidly studies art books and painstakingly recreates paintings by master artists such as Monet or Van Gogh to teach himself about color, light and technique.
      When he started painting, Newsom decided to use oils and has never looked back. As a former builder, he knew he wanted to paint with something that lasted, something permanent like the buildings he used to construct. He noted that oil paintings on canvas last hundreds of years whereas there are not too many watercolor originals that last centuries.
      The depth of his paintings, nearly three-dimensional at times, also hints at his roots as a tradesman.
      "I started out as a pallet-knife artist," said Newsom, who usually has 15-20 projects going at one time. "I love color and I love to put on color like a sculpture. I throw a lot of color in because I've learned that is what it takes."
      Applying his businessman's schedule to his painting, he now paints at least four hours a day during the warm months and six or seven during winter. Some paintings take him two days and others up to two weeks to complete. He starts with a detailed charcoal sketch and often makes a small version of the painting to work out all the kinks before tackling the scene on a full-size canvas.
      As he gets more skilled and experienced with his medium, Newsom finds that more of his efforts are keepers. When he started out five years ago, he threw away ten paintings for every one he kept; now he figures the ration is closer to 50-50.
      "It is now starting to happen for me, the pictures I plan in my head are starting to turn out," said Newsom, who has never even sold any of his paintings. "The main thing for me is painting is a hobby, I like to do it."