We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marc Raphael a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Marc, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
As a child, I was very active and athletic. I played Little League, Pop Warner Football, and Club Basketball, and I excelled at all of them. The success I enjoyed playing sports as a child made me feel good about myself and fostered my identity as an athlete. It also instilled in me the values of discipline, hard work, and persistence. Over time my confidence and self-esteem grew, and by my senior year of high school I was a First Team All-League basketball player. The success I experienced in sports carried over into other areas of my life as well. It gave me the confidence to make friends, go to college on the East Coast, live abroad in Paris my junior year, summit Mount Whitney, teach in the inner-city, scuba dive, bungee jump, and eventually transition to being a professional painter in my late 50s. Were it not for the successes and achievements I experienced throughout my life in other areas, especially sports, I doubt I would have had the courage to begin a new career as an artist at this stage of my life
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an artist who paints in an abstract expressionist style using acrylics. As a self-described action painter, I am concerned with the action and process of painting rather than the final product. When I work on large format paintings that range in size from four to eight feet, I begin by laying the unstretched canvas on the floor. Using my whole body, I move around the perimeter of the canvas swirling, flinging, dripping, and splattering paint. Involving both control and spontaneity, my process is largely improvisational, and that is why I refer to my paintings as ‘jazz-like improvisations on canvas’. It is a very rhythmic process and one that ties back to my days as a competitive athlete. For much of my life I expressed myself creatively through my body in sport. Today, I express myself creatively through my body in art. After I stopped playing competitive sports, I pursued a 25-year career as a K-12 classroom teacher and although I painted as a hobby, I was no longer using my body daily to express myself. For many years while I was teaching, I dreamed of spending more time painting, and I think it was my body’s need to express itself creatively that unconsciously drove me to transition to being a full time artist. Best decision I ever made!
My painting process makes sense to me, and the canvas is the arena where I act. It is often the place where I feel most comfortable as well. I cannot help but see the similarity between the canvas and the baseball diamond and basketball court. All three places are where I connect deeply with my body and express myself creatively. These places are also where the world makes sense to me. Nothing is more deeply satisfying and fulfilling for me than to be fully connected to the creative process and in a state of flow when making a painting. It is the purest expression of my authentic self. Expressing my authentic self and sharing it with others is exciting. In this sense my art is a gift to the world. The love and energy I put into making my art is the same love and energy I put out into the universe for others to experience and enjoy. I understand that when an artwork of mine is brought into a home or office, the collector is connecting with the energy, love, and emotion they see and feel in the painting. You know, my mission is to spread beauty, love, and self-discovery through art. How beautiful is that!
I work out of my studio in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles. In February, I will begin working in a second studio in Los Angeles Harbor Arts in San Pedro. I believe the additional studio and community will be good for my evolution as an artist.
My artworks can be found at Artspace Warehouse in Los Angeles, local art festivals, on social media, and in my studio.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
When you are about to make a major change in your life you better possess a healthy amount of courage and trust. As I transitioned to being a full time painter, I initially depended on the excitement I felt knowing that I was following a dream to propel me forward. As various challenges and self-doubt surfaced along the way, I needed to rely on qualities consistent with my core nature – something I could control. That’s where courage and trust come in. Although the strength of these qualities ebb and flow, they are a core part of who I am. Instilled in me early in life as a competitive athlete, these qualities strengthened over time as I achieved and accomplished things in other areas of my life. It is important to take the time to reflect on your strengths and best qualities, identify them, and affirm that they are always within you and available to help you live fully. The trust in yourself is commensurate with how strongly you believe in yourself. Once that belief becomes unequivocal, you can trust and enjoy the journey you are on knowing that you possess all that you need to be successful. It is a daily practice. You must be mindful of your thoughts and feelings, be able to let go of whatever is not working for you, and align yourself with your best qualities and skills that serve you well. Immersion is also key when you set out on a new journey. It is crucial that you expand and deepen your knowledge base. I immersed myself in art and continue to do so. I read books on art history and my favorite artists, watch YouTube videos on various artists and movements, listen to podcasts about the art world, business of art, and practices of individual artists, and frequently visit galleries and attend art openings. You have to put in the time and do the work. For example, it took me a year and a half to get my art accepted by my favorite local gallery. After completing the online submission process, I frequented the gallery, talked with the associates, and developed relationships with them. I wanted to make my presence known to them and it paid off. Put yourself out there too. Grow your network of artist friends and acquaintances, participate in lots of shows even if you have to pay, and attend art openings and talks. These efforts yield positive results over time. Be patient, yet persistent.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
Since the large drip paintings of Jackson Pollock have had the greatest influence on my art, I wanted to learn more about the man and his art. Years ago, I read the biography Jackson Pollock: An American Saga by Naifeh and Smith. The book provides an historical context of Pollock’s place in modern art and how he helped to shape it. It also offers an in-depth examination of Pollock’s evolution as an artist. I have two strong takeaways from the book. First, Pollock possessed a steadfast belief in his talent as an artist. This certainly appears to be the case from the early 1940s onward. He was courageous and trusting of himself – qualities I mentioned earlier. The complete commitment to making art his way allowed him to do what he loved and to evolve naturally as an artist. Sure, he was a tortured soul in many ways, but his I-must-do-this-or-die attitude inspires me. When self-doubt creeps in regarding my own art, I often remind myself of Pollock’s full throttle dedication to his art. Another book that has impacted me on my art journey is Picasso’s War: How Modern Art Came To America by Hugh Eakin. The book chronicles the unwavering efforts of one man, John Quinn, to bring the greatest collection of Picasso’s art to America. I enjoyed both the narrative component of the story and the historical information regarding the birth and development of modern art. More importantly, however, I admired Quinn’s vision and the monumental actions he took to make it a reality. Although it was necessary for others such as Alfred Barr Jr. to become actively involved after Quinn’s death to achieve his goal, he embodied the qualities of courage and trust like few others before or since. The through line between the two books is the notion that to follow one’s dream it is important to possess the unwavering commitment to what you are doing and the unequivocal belief in yourself.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themarcraphael/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themarcraphael
