Embrace the Thing That Is Truly You
Don’t pour whiskey on your bluebird
Two Jeremy Mann oil paintings hang on the wall beside the bookcase in my little writing studio.
They are dark, almost monochromatic figure studies, loosely expressed in Jeremy’s unique, masterful originality. A few years back, I spent an entire day driving from Las Vegas to an art gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to attend Jeremy’s one-man show.
I was not disappointed.
The entire gallery was filled with his cityscapes, figure paintings, en plein air studies, and monochromatic photographs from homemade cameras. Jeremy mingled amongst the patrons, a homemade cigar box camera slung over his shoulder, as he graciously answered questions and tolerated photos with shameless groupies.
I discovered Jeremy’s artwork years ago, at a time when I grew weary of the uninspired and imitative landscape paintings I was producing.
I used to flip through art magazines, noting how similar and derivative everyone’s work appeared. Occasionally, there would be outrageous or insanely garish pieces, but they seemed desperate cries for attention, relying on…
