NEW TIMES What medium do you work in?
DENKER I’ve narrowed myself down to acrylic, usually on canvas.
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NEW TIMES What do you like about that medium?
DENKER Acrylic dries reasonably quick, and I don’t have to drag my first through wet paint. My school training emphasized watercolor and gouache, which all apply to acrylics. Also, I don’t like being in a cloud of volatile solvents. In times past, you faced the possibility of skin and lung cancer, so it didn’t seem like a proper way to spend the second half of my life.
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NEW TIMES What is the aim of you artwork?
DENKER I’m not an evangelic, trying to teach. I paint scenes, people, and situations that are jaw-dropping in my own experience. I try to go back and assemble images, whether visual or emotional, to support those experiences. I am a traditionalist; I haven’t joined the rank of the cutting-edge. It’s not my voice. My choice of subjects are what are seen outside my abode or places I’ve visited: Greece, Mexico, Crete, and Italy. I have had memorable experiences when I’ve traveled, and I celebrate them in some of my work. I don’t have the foggiest idea of what the buying public is looking for; I’m not a commercial artist, but I get everything I want out of it.
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NEW TIMES How has the open art studio experience been?
DENKER It was a good year. I had virtually the same number of visitors and buyers as last year. My expectations were scaled to low. It’s not a boom time unless you are a celebrity. Only a couple people make a studio a destination, mostly people from the surrounding neighborhood, but I value the event. There would be virtually no visitations without the foundation’s (Arts Obispo) support and promotion.
This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 2, 2012.