Print 
PDFAn Interview by Melanie E Magdalena
Matthew Woodall has been painting since childhood. It all began with a gift from his mother, the 1963 World Book Encyclopedia set."I remember drawing a man from history in one of those books that had a top hat and handlebar mustache that literally shocked my parents. I drew it with an ink pen (no erasing) and it looked just like him with all his facial features."Today he paints café and street scenes with a “hippie-day” setting as well as portraits of famous musicians and artists he admires.
How did you become a painter?
Though I took art and art history in college, I didn’t really get into painting as a serious career until after. Up until 2002, I only painted every 5 to 10 years. After that, I painted 43 paintings in 3 years, and in 2005 I went looking for a store gallery. Finding one that was impressed with my work, they advertised me as a regional Southeastern artist on every storefront window in my hometown Auburn, Alabama. Within 4 months I sold 41 of the 43 that I painted. I suffered from a painters’ block for six years. I just recently moved back to Auburn, after living in Denver, CO, Danville, PA, and Lake Mary, FL and have begun to paint again. I never took photos of the paintings I did from 2002 to 2005, except six of them. I wish that I had taken pictures of all my paintings that sold, for they would speak more of my abilities.
Why do people enjoy your work? Do you feel it brings something to them that is rarely seen in other paintings?
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| Pablo Picasso Classical, with flair! |
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| Relationships A cafe scene that captures the lively atmosphere of everyday relationships. |
Well, in my paintings of cafe scenes especially, there is an air of romance in them. People love to see romantic scenes painted and on their walls evidently. They were the first ones of mine to sell, and I love doing them, especially in a setting from the 60's hippie days, guys with ponytails and with couples sitting having some coffee next to a window with the old Volkswagen bus on the street curb... that kind of scene. People from my generation and today's generation love scenes like that I have found.
I also paint portraits of other artists, such as Pablo Picasso. I took an old black and white photo of his and added some color. Today, it has become a favorite to people that loved him.
What makes your portraits so powerful?
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| Bob Dylan A timeless moment captured in color. |
Other than painting the portrait of Picasso, I did one of Janis Joplin, George Harrison, artist William Merritt Chase, and some others, including Andy Warhol. Warhol’s painting was unique. I try to paint portraits of famous people from a view that no one has seen. I try to look at several photos of the famous person, to get down in my imagination how they would look in a different stance, or countenance, so as to be somewhat more appealing than one original photo taken of them. My portrait of Bob Dylan was done that way, by looking at several photos over his career and putting down what I saw in my mind and painting it into one portrait.
Pain n Anxiety Megan
Where there is weakness there is strength. Beautiful and haunting determination.
Do you think artistic expression is important to culture? If so, how are you bringing cultural awareness to art?
Art awareness is important. For example, there was an article in the news recently about one of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous letters. In one of them he described a work-in-progress depicting two half-nude male wrestlers. No one knew this painting even existed until its discovery underneath the paint of a Van Gogh still life acquired in 1974 by the Kroller-Muller Museum in Otterlo, Holland. Thought to have been "uncharacteristically exuberant," the still life had been deattributed to Van Gogh in 2003 and removed from public view completely. The discovery of the hidden wrestlers, made possible by recent advances in x-ray technology, now confirms its authenticity, while offering unique insight into the great Post-Impressionist's working method.
I think it is important for people to see how it really was during the 60's and 70’s. I know that photos tell the same types of stories, but there is something about paintings that make people frame them and hang them on their walls. I think it's very important for generations to come to see, being that a person that lived in those days saw it and painted it, even if it is that one person’s experiences of that era.
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| Absract The story of an artist's mind. |
About the Artist
Matthew Woodall, Regional Southeastern artist living in Auburn, Alabama, has sold his paintings to people all over the United States. For more information about his work, please contact woodallart@gmail.com and visit him on Google+ to view his latest paintings.
All images and paintings ©Matthew Woodall. All rights reserved.
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