Jay F.

JAY F. has been creating art on a regular basis ever since joining the WAE Center.  His two main mediums are markers for drawing and acrylics for painting. His drawings are usually small in scale, whereas his paintings are normally much larger.

Jay likes to draw figurative images, but his paintings are more abstract. For those he will load his palette with many different colors of paint and then apply it to the canvas using a small roller.  Jay applies the paint in many layers of side-by-side stripes starting at the top of the canvas and running the roller to the bottom. At times, he will turn the canvas sideways and do the same, thus creating a checkerboard pattern with underlying paint and texture peeking through. The result is often very sophisticated. The finished piece may take months to complete, though he only works in short (usually fifteen-minute) sessions.  “I like to draw people and paint stripes. I’m thinking to do a painting inspired by the hurricane.”

Creating art makes Jay feel confident: “It makes me feel like I can do it”; but he also seems to get a buzz about the affect his work will have on the viewer. “I think it will make people feel good. They will think I’m a wild man.”

When Jay is not creating art his main interest is current events and the weather, of which he keeps everyone informed. He also enjoys music and doing impressions.