I'm proud to introduce Nashville artist Jeff Bertrand!!
Nashville and music are synonymous. We know that, but local Nashville artist Jeff Bertrand knows better than most. In a town were it's musical celebrities feel quite comfortable in yoga pants picking up yogurt at Whole Foods or sitting among the masses at Virago enjoying a delectible "The Bomb" roll, growing up here proved to be very exciting for a creative kid with stars in his eyes. Jeff Bertrand has always been one chance encounter away from running into some famous future subjects. Jeff paints portraits, but not just any protraits. He is most enthralled by American Nostalgia, pop culture and musical greats of Country and Rock N' Roll. He has an amazing eye for color and charisma. Looking into the faces of his portraits you can feel the spirit of his subjects. Their swagger and confidence. Their sex appeal. They're famous alright but Jeff as a way of making them look even more iconic than they already are. I sat down with Jeff outside the famous Nashville Parthenon to talk about art, music and living life here in Nashville. Here is the video and transcript. I hope you enjoy!
Artist interview:
RC: I've looked a lot of your websites, your Facebook, trying to get to know you a little before this interview and my first question to you is what is your favorite Johnny Cash song?
JB: My favorite Johnny Cash song? I have a lot of favorites but probably my favorite would be Hurt. Just because when I grew up and that song came out and I was old enough to appreciate it. I'm a huge Nine Inch Nails fan and Trent Reznor fan and I thought it was really cool how it revived his career and brought Johnny Cash to a whole new audience.
RC: That it absolutely did. Yeah I noticed after he did that song that he did another video "God's Gonna Cut You Down" and all these current stars were in that video, remember that?
JB: Yeah, that whole album he did a lot of cover songs and it totally took his career in a different direction. It kinda brought him back to the Man in Black and made him dark again cause he was kinda getting obscure there for awhile in a lot of fans eyes.
RC: Well as you know, but for the sake our audience, the reason I asked that question was because I know that you're a huge fan of Johnny Cash and you really love that kind of music and that kind of nostalgia. Is listening to music a big part of your creative process?
RC: Awesome! Can you kinda explain to Nashville Art Makers your process and what helps you pin-point your next piece of work, how you're gonna come up with what you're doing next?
JB: It really depends on the situation or the group of art I'm showing. The current group of art I'm doing is 80's themed art... it really depends on, you know, if it's something I'm wanting to do! I have a lot fun with my own work (and sometimes) just have no direction what so ever, just making art! I try not to think about it cause once you think and over analyze your art you know... it gets too tight, too focused really. I think the more you don't think about creating the art the more raw and.. uh... great piece of art you get. I do a lot of theme shows. The current one I was talking about is 80's theme art! It's all 80's icons, pop culture references. I actually just finished today... a VCR piece! I'm actually using found objects and recycled objects that were big parts of the culture of the 80's. So everybody had the VCR cassette tapes and basically made it into a big functional piece and painted on it together! It turned out really nice!
RC: Oh, that's awesome I can't wait to see it! What would you say is the medium you enjoy the most?
JB: Uh I think it would be... primarily I would say painting but it's more of a mixed media. I do a lot illustration based painting. I really like acyrlics because they dry fast. I'm kinda impatient and I like to see art happening.... (here is where some college kid's tossed a frisbee in our shot)
JB: There just went a frisbee (Jeff laughs) I like to see the art transforming.. there goes another one... I don't know, I'm just really impatient and I like to see it finished.. I like to see the art happening.
RC: What uh... how quick does it take you to finish a painting?
RC: When was the first time you realized you wanted to be an artist?
JB: Well probably the first time was in Kindergarten. I won an award of creativity and actually got a little bit of praise for the art I was creating and it kinda stuck with me. I got a little bit of attention for it I thought I gotta make more, you know? I don't know man, probably aside from that; the first time someone paid me to do a piece of art.
RC: What is it now... now that you are an artist. What drives you?
JB: I don't know. I just want to focus and get art into as many people's hands as possible. I had a... I found a really good quote that really touched my art making process... it was by Camille Rose Garcia. She said, "create art like you have one year to live"! So if you have one year to live you want to get all the messages across in your art. You want people to realize what you're about.. you wanna make art as if, you know this is what you have left to leave. So that's that the way I approach it.
RC: That's one way to drive it!
JB: Yeah, it takes up my work ethic... 150%
RC: Okay this is kinda of a localized question... (helicopter now begins to fly over head and it's really loud.. we both start laughing) this is one of the joys of filming outside... there's a helicopter. Being from Nashville, you had mentioned that you grew up here where it is common to see celebrities... different types of celebrities, this is kind of a fun question, but who's the biggest star you've ever run into?
JB: The biggest star? I guess it depends on who you...
RC: Who do you think is big?
JB: I don't know man. Growing up I met MC Hammer and I thought that was pretty amazing!
RC: Nice!!
JB: MC Hammer was cool! I mean currently I do art for Halie Williams of Paramore! She's blowing up. I just saw her on the front cover of the Cosmopolitan magazine! So I was like holy crap. I just did some work for New Found Glory, Chad Gilbert. Uh, you name it man! Ben Folds, he's really cool. I'm really into his music; he's one of my influences!
RC: Give me three modern musical stars you've never done before that you'd think would be really great...
JB: be really cool?
RC: ...to do portraits of?
JB: I don't know. I think I'm sticking with people in town. I think it would be really cool to do Jack White. He's blowing up with just his Third Man Records and everything that is going on here in Nashville. It would be cool, he's got like a persona going on, like a dark thing. I think he would be really neat. It would translate really great into a painting. I don't know, I'm a huge fan... I like the Black Keys man. I think...
JB: Yeah the people who are moving here is neat! I think it is so cool that they're here and that's a part of Nashville now so I want that to translate into my art as well!
RC: Okay, well Jack White and the Black Keys, that's definitely a good current perspective of what is going on. It interests me, since I was here at the time it happened, which is why I always ask this question, but where were you during the 2010 flood?
JB: I was actually at my home. At the time we lived in the Brentioch area (if you don't know where this is ask someone who's lived here a while, they'll tell ya). If you know anything relative to the floods you know it happened out on Bell Rd. A lot of it was the worst areas and we lived right down that road. The same road that you've seen on the news... that thing floating down! That's the road I'd drive to work every single day.
RC: Oh man, that was so crazy!
JB: So I was at home freaking out! I believe right when the flood hit I was actually at work and then heading home and this side of the interstate was shut down and I was like "I don't know if I'm gonna get home"! A 20 minute drive ended up taking me... cause I work in Murfreesboro... ended up taking me close to 3 hours and it was scary man and I was panicking and trying to get a hold of my wife and she was in New York City at the same time that the failed car bomb happened. I was hearing on the news that a car bomb was... you know...
RC: Wow you guys were just in the mix of it!
JB: Yeah it was just freaky, so I was worried about her and I was worried about what was going on and it just touched home and I felt like I needed to do something. So I created Art Flood which was a benefit for victims who lost their possessions and everything in the flood and we chose Hands on Nashville cause it seemed, instead of doing like the Red Cross, it would get the money into Nashville's hands quicker. I just felt like I needed to do something now! At the time I didn't see anything going on, there were no benefits at first and I was like I need to jump on this and get it going. So from when the flood happened, I believed it was maybe seven days. In seven days we created a benefit and raised a couple grand for Hands on Nashville and we packed the show out, sold just about everything we had there and we raised some money! It was fantastic! We had some great musical acts come out and it was probably one of the more proud things I've ever done!
RC: Wow that is awesome! Now I know you did a piece for ReTune Nashville...
JB: Actually I did two pieces!
RC: Two pieces?
JB: Yeah a Hank Williams piece that was Hank Sr., Hank Jr. and Hank 3 called Family Tradition and it's actually at Robert's Western World right now. The owner...
RC: My favorite place...
JB: Yeah the honky tonk!! World famous honky tonk... the owner purchased the piece and it's actually in a glass display case on lower Broad. This May 3rd I'm gonna have my new Retuned guitar, it's a Johnny Cash one called Walk The Timeline! It's has young Johnny, mid life Johnny and old Johnny. It's pretty cool. It's on an acoustic guitar it's gonna be at a live auction May 3rd!RC: That is great! Uh, how would you describe the Nashville art scene? It's a question I like to ask different artist to get those different perspectives.
JB: Yeah, right. I bet you get a lot of different answers! I've been fortunate enough to be involved in the arts (here) long enough to see it... you know... to see nothing and actually see something be created! I remember doing my first art show in the Arcade when there was one art gallery in there and now there is probably a good 10, 12 art galleries in the Arcade, upstairs and downstairs. Just seeing it explode man, tons of people are moving here, tons of really talanted artist... not just musicians. Great that we have the downtown Art Crawl now, we have the East Nashville Art Crawl, Hillsboro Art Crawl and it just seems to be blowing up and doing nothing but great things!
RC: Yeah, I'd agree with that. What are your goals short term and then maybe after that, long term?
JB: Short term. Short term is to get caught up and to get to a level where I actually feel like I'm getting all my art finished! I'm kinda overwhelmed right now with commission work and a lot of shows lined up. I'm actually booked out for 2011, so that's pretty ridiculous for me because I've never done that before. Long term goals I've actually really thought about it here lately I either want to do more art festivals and go throughout the country and possibly see if I can intern under or assist under one of my artists I look up to! So I was thinking of possibly doing that just to get some more skills under my belt.
RC: You have a few in mind?
JB: Yeah, haven't really ventured out and done that yet, I'm still brainstorming! I'm trying to figure out how you make it man. That's the hard part.
RC: Yeah, that's the hard part. It's a good question for everybody, I think any artist! My last question, kind of a three part question. Pretty simple three-part question, but it's a question I think is really good to know about anybody not just artists. What are the three most important things, people, whatever to you in your life?
JB: Um, that's a pretty easy one for me man. Definitely... family, friends and health man! My father was actually diagnosed with lung and brain cancer last year and he's been battling that and he actually just finished his chemotherapy and is cancer free right now. He's just trying to make the best of the situation. I mean you'll never know when you'll have somebody you care about go away. We had a lot of really bad stuff happen in my family last year. Their house burnt down 3 days after Thanksgiving, so it's like your family, it's your friends, it's your health, everything else is added bonuses, added stuff! Possessions are not a big thing for me. If you don't have your family, friends and health you don't have anything. So that's my three.
***End of Interview***
BIO/STATEMENT
I consider myself simply an artist. I work mainly in portraits that are reflective of American Nostalgia. Growing up in Nashville Nashville
www.facebook.com/bertranddesigns
http://www.artbybertrand.blogspot.com/
Selected Art Exhibitions
Versus-MIR GALLERY-Nashville Tn-Mar 2011(groupshow)
Vinyl art show @ hoodlums/Tempe Arizona
Private matters-Blackbird tattoo/ART Gallery-Nashville
B-sides- sponsored by Culture Initiative, Custom, & Espada Bicycle – Charlotte
2nd anniversary group show-(group show) at dharma lounge Charlotte
Southern culture art extravaganza2-(group show) at charlie bob’s-Nashville TN- Nov 2010
1 yr anniversary show-(group show) land of the odd Gallery-LosAngeles, CA-Nov 2010
Dia De Los Muertos-(group show)Octane Gallery-Nashville ,Tn Nov 2010
Fight Back move forward!- (group show benefiting The samfund) Billups art Nashville-Oct 2010
The Art show strikes back!-duo show with Charles CVB Bennett at Octane! Gallery,Nashville-Sept 2010
DioramaOrama-Group art show at Billups Art Gallery
