Art Chowder January | February, Issue 25 | Page 27

JORDAN SCHNITZER
K
atsushika Hokusai depicted nature in his
woodcuts in a compelling way, and reached his peak
in his seventies! 
I wish I could make a graded wash that works so
well. His “Great Wave Off Kanagawa” is one of
the handful of the best-known art pieces in the
world, yet I wonder how many people recognize
his name. The cool thing about him is he was a
painter for most of his life; it wasn’t until his 70s
that he became a woodblock printmaker and created
the “Great Wave” It’s so famous — it’s the only
artwork in the world that has an emoji! He also
did a lot of landscape and nature stuff when most
woodcutters were shaping people…plus the fact
that he did his greatest work in his 70s and I’m 62,
which means I’ve got a while.
There’s a Norwegian impressionist, Frits Thaulow,
whose water paintings I admire greatly.  The
African-American impressionist Henry Ossawa
Tanner’s water is simply amazing, painted with
a combination of oil and egg tempera (and art
conservators shudder). Every time I paint a close-up
of a flower much larger than life I think of Georgia
O’Keefe, though our styles are very different.  
I never know how much and exactly what I take
away from spending time with a great painting, but I
know they change the way I want to paint.  
Art Chowder:: That’s quite a list! If you could host
a dinner party with anyone (living or dead) who
would you invite and why?
L. Bjorneby: I’d love to have a great artist, a
great composer and a great writer together who
could talk about creating their work from different
perspectives.  Just off the top of my head, I’d make
it Winslow Homer, George Gershwin, and Willa
Cather.  
Art Chowder: I understand Homer from what you
said before, but why Gershwin?
L. Bjorneby: I love his jazz stuff like “Rhapsody
in Blue.” I love that he was a Russian Jewish
immigrant who embraced American Jazz and made
music. He was so creative.
TRIMPIN
AMBIENTE 432
A SOUND
SCULPTURE
EXHIBITION
Opens Jan 14, 2020
FREE: Tuesday-Saturday, 10-4
January | February 2020
museum.wsu.edu
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