Paint brushes and guitar picks are among the tools in Neil Andersson’s arsenal, as the Lompoc-based artist’s output is divided into works meant to be seen and those meant to be heard.
“Art and music have always been intertwined in my life,” the accomplished oil painter and guitarist said in an email interview.
His latest display at Gallery Los Olivos celebrates both of his passions. Starting on Nov. 1, a collection of Andersson’s jazz-inspired abstracts will be on view on some of the gallery’s walls, while other walls will showcase impressionistic scenes of colorful florals and architecture by acrylic painter Vicki Andersen.
The duo exhibition is appropriately titled Symphony of Color, which is scheduled to remain on display through the end of November.
“Somehow our work seems to work well together,” Andersen told the Sun over email.
<a href="https://media2.santamariasun.com/santamaria/imager/u/original/16066935/arts-lead-2-purple_balcony-10-31.jpg" rel="contentImg_gal-16066937" title="PURPLE REIGN: Symphony of Color, set to open on Nov. 1 at Gallery Los Olivos, will include Purple Balcony, which acrylic painter Vicki Andersen based on a reference photo she took while visiting San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. – Courtesy image by Vicki Andersen" data-caption="PURPLE REIGN: Symphony of Color, set to open on Nov. 1 at Gallery Los Olivos, will include Purple Balcony, which acrylic painter Vicki Andersen based on a reference photo she took while visiting San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.
Courtesy image by Vicki Andersen” class=”uk-display-block uk-position-relative uk-visible-toggle”>
Courtesy image by Vicki Andersen
PURPLE REIGN: Symphony of Color, set to open on Nov. 1 at Gallery Los Olivos, will include Purple Balcony, which acrylic painter Vicki Andersen based on a reference photo she took while visiting San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.
Andersen’s rule of thumb when it comes to landscapes is she won’t paint a location if she hasn’t been there herself, but she also doesn’t paint on-site either.
“I don’t work en plein air but from my own photos from my travels,” Andersen said. “So if I paint it, I’ve been there.”
Abstract works from Andersson, on the other hand, depict sights that are impossible to visit. Although his colorful arrangements are inspired by musical motifs, with an aim to “radiate the rhythms and excitement of jazz,” Andersson needs radio silence to paint them.
“I know this may sound strange, but I never listen to music when I paint. Any outside music would totally take my concentration off the painting,” Andersson said. “I need to focus on what my mind wants the painting to be—essentially, the music it’s making as I paint. It’s hard to explain. … For me, the process of abstract painting is like composing and improvising jazz.”
Andersson compared the way he enjoys putting abstract “visual elements together until they make sense” to combining musical elements while writing a song.
“Some of the paintings are more directly related to jazz, even with song titles, and others are based on jazz elements,” Andersson said of his oil paintings featured in Symphony of Color.
<a href="https://media2.santamariasun.com/santamaria/imager/u/original/16066936/arts-lead-3-an_elegant_cadence-10-31.png" rel="contentImg_gal-16066937" title="ROAM IF YOU WANT TO: Neil Andersson is a longtime musician and landscape artist who became serious about painting abstracts—resulting in pieces like An Elegant Cadence—a few years ago. “The freedom of abstract painting is amazing. … For me, it’s very much like improvising music,” he told the Sun. – Courtesy image by Neil Andersson" data-caption="ROAM IF YOU WANT TO: Neil Andersson is a longtime musician and landscape artist who became serious about painting abstracts—resulting in pieces like An Elegant Cadence—a few years ago. “The freedom of abstract painting is amazing. … For me, it’s very much like improvising music,” he told the Sun.
Courtesy image by Neil Andersson” class=”uk-display-block uk-position-relative uk-visible-toggle”>
Courtesy image by Neil Andersson
ROAM IF YOU WANT TO: Neil Andersson is a longtime musician and landscape artist who became serious about painting abstracts—resulting in pieces like An Elegant Cadence—a few years ago. “The freedom of abstract painting is amazing. … For me, it’s very much like improvising music,” he told the Sun.
Andersson’s visual art and music occasionally intersect in a different way, as he’s designed the cover art for a few jazz albums he’s collaborated with other musicians on over the years. Some examples of his album artworks are currently on display at the Jeffrey Moose Gallery in Winslow, Washington—Andersson’s home state. He grew up in Tacoma.
Unlike Andersson’s abstracts, Andersen’s landscapes capture things you’ll find in the real world, but not in a strict, down-to-earth fashion.
“I work quite loosely and don’t worry about the details much,” said Andersen, whose impressionistic pieces suggest real places and objects but leave room for audience participation. “The human eye fills in that part.”
She also works pretty fast—sometimes finishing a piece in 45 minutes or less—when painting, compared to some artists, including her younger college self.
An illustration alumna of CSU Long Beach, Andersen noticed her painting speed accelerate years after graduating, specifically when she signed up for an adult community class in Lompoc taught by Shirley Wallace.
“She used to harass me about trying to work with a palette knife. Eventually I took her dare and never went back,” Andersen said. “I do usually work rather quickly with palette knives or the largest brush I can and finish relatively quickly.”
Cut to the chase with Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood at [email protected].