Bucks
Jan Lipes – Solebury artist
Dear Friends,
Good
morning. I finally met Jan Lipes, the Solebury artist who celebrated a
well-attended and successful opening of his solo show, “Affirmations,” at the
Gratz Gallery in
Jan was
seated during his art show, which I thought strange until I realized that he
was in a wheel chair. He was just 27 years old when afflicted with multiple
sclerosis in 1979. He’s been confined to a wheel chair since 1991. When MS
struck, Jan was an emergency room physician at the
He only has the use of his non-dominant arm (his left), but it hasn’t affected his ability or his ardor for painting. Twenty years ago, a shoulder injury to my dominant right side forced me to learn to play tennis left handed. I remember how difficult that process was.
Jan has
become a prolific artist. There are 40 plus paintings in the current show at
the Gratz, which closes on February 11. He produced 50 paintings for his 2006
exhibition. When I had our visit, Jan was working on a 20 by 24 inch oil
painting of two scullers on the
Jan’s easel is unique because it’s automated. A touch on a toggle switch moves the canvas left or right, up or down, or tilts it. Jan’s reach in his wheelchair is only two feet. Before obtaining that special easel this year, he would spend frustrating hours trying to move canvasses with only his left hand. He credits artist Bob Beck for introducing him to Stephen Gensheimer, a Rosemont engineer, who designed and built the easel. David Rattner, the owner of a machine shop near Warminster, finished the project.
“Now I try to paint six foot canvasses,” Jan told me. “Because of this easel, I have no limit. But there’s always a zillion frustrations, such as when I drop a brush on the floor.”
Jan drew and sketched as a child but he never had formal art training. “I began painting in 1991 as a Sunday painter,” he says. “I left medicine behind in 1993 and became a full time painter.”
Jan has had to be very careful when he’s painting near the river or back country. Bad terrain has caused the wheelchair to upset. He’s had many accidents, spills and falls. “TNTC, too numerous to count,” he laughs.
“When I started, I painted exclusively outdoors,” Jan continued. “I learned about light and color. But they change so rapidly. I’m a slow painter so I need the light to remain the same. The digital camera helped me make the move to become a studio painter.”
The rowers on his canvass fascinated me.
“I observe scullers frequently,” Jan told me. “I build up a visual memory for what I observe and I take digital photos to remind me of what I saw.” He uses a Macintosh computer to visualize the images. The lighting behind the computer screen makes the color and brightness appear like natural light.
“Why would any sane person deal with the frustration of having to work with one arm,” Jan asked rhetorically? He answered his own question. “I don’t have four extremities,” he replied. “I only have one. I was clumsy at first, but I just did it. Painting is all about seeing and feeling and it just came out of my left arm…because I had no other choice.”
Jan is tenacious and he speaks passionately about painting. “What I want to do is art and I’ll do anything to get it out. If I had to paint with a brush in my mouth as some disabled artists do, I would. I’m like a bull. When I see a red flag, I work ferociously to overcome that obstacle.
“Every defect has a hidden treasure, Jan observes. “Bad things happen to all of us but often, good things come out of them.”
He’s an inspiration. Don’t miss his show at the Gratz.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith