World-traveling artist comes to Los Gatos
Virtual Gallery welcomes 'master of palette knife'
By Shari Kaplan
The knife is mightier than the brush.
Although it may sound like a Bartlett's Familiar Quotation gone strangely wrong, it is an apt description of the discovery that artist Howard Behrens made years ago and that continues to shape his artwork today.
"He's considered the master of the palette knife," says Mary McCarthy, director of The Virtual Gallery, 105 N. Santa Cruz Ave., which secured Behrens's first West Coast show after his three-year hiatus from the exhibition circuit.
The palette knife is a handheld metal tool usually used to mix and blend paints. Some artists take it a step further and use it to make a painting--pushing and pulling thick swatches, swirls and chunks of color around the canvas.
In 1976, when the United States was celebrating the bicentennial of its independence, Behrens began an endeavor that would bring him his own sense of celebration--he traded his brush for a knife.
"It's like giving up the piano to go play the violin. I went through about two years of non-saleable paintings while perfecting my technique," he says. He says he loves the great textures, abstract looks and "juicy colors" he can achieve with the knife.
Behrens didn't plan to be a knife-exclusive artist, however. A native of Chicago who grew up near Washington, D.C., Behrens drew and sketched all the time as a child and by junior high school had branched into painting.
"I think all young kids have a sense of art and a desire to draw," he says. "That feeling you have as a kid--if it stays with you--keeps you young at heart. I think artists are often like that."
After obtaining bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts from the University of Maryland, Behrens in 1964 took a job as an illustrator for the U.S. Government Printing Office. For the last 10 years of the job, which he left in 1981, he served as the chief artist.
In his free time, Behrens traveled throughout the country and world and was constantly inspired by the beauty he saw. The same holds true today for this prolific artist, who has visited Italy, Greece, France, Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Florida and California, among other places.
"I just can't stop painting. Even when I go on vacation, I'm looking for subject matter!" says Behrens, who lives in Virginia with his wife, Judi.
Although in the past he did a lot of painting on location, he says he much prefers taking photographs and using them to build a mental melange of related images back in his home studio.
"It's like closing your eyes and reviewing all the aspects of what you're seeing--I capture the essence of the places I've been," he says of the composite technique that gives rise to his distinctive pieces, which he describes as a blend of Impressionist and Expressionist influences.
The fact that most of his trip locales are warm, sunny places is definitely no accident. For Behrens, light and color are crucial elements of a painting. This is evident in his predominance of bright, cheerful outdoor scenes. Additionally, he says he is an optimist who prefers to look on the "bright" side of things.
"In the last 20 years, I don't think I've painted more than two paintings that aren't in the sunshine!" he reveals, laughing. "I like the sun because you can play with the lighting and shadow and can introduce interesting patterns."
The public is invited to meet Behrens at receptions on Feb. 11 and 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Virtual Gallery. Call 408.399.3456 to RSVP.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
Artist Howard Behrens visits Los Gatos's Virtual Gallery to premiere his newest paintings.
