Artist Spotlight on Jered Sprecher

Name: Jered Sprecher

 

Where I live: Knoxville, Tennessee

 

My greatest inspiration: Three small drawings by Esther made while she was in an Iowa nursing home.

 

My hero: Edouard Manet, he is still revolutionary after more than 100 years. 

 

My most treasured possession: Over the years, I have traded artwork with friends and fellow artists. Having these pieces around is a way to hold those wonderful people close, even though they may be far away.

 

My favorite thing to do: I love to sit and sip a cup of coffee in the morning and talk with Christine about what the day has in store.  

 

My favorite words to live by:  “als ick kan”

 

My proudest moment or my greatest achievement: Recently, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City acquired one of my paintings. It is where I first saw the works of artists like Kerry James Marshall, Toba Khedori, and Jonathan Lasker. Growing up in Kansas City, this museum really opened my eyes to what contemporary artists were doing.  

 

The best advice I received: “Paint like you own the paint store.” 

 

The best advice I ever gave: “Paint like you own the paint store.”

 

I joined APT because: I like artists working together and being supportive of each other’s successes.

 

Currently working on: Since returning to Knoxville I have been working on a painting that I started in response to Constable’s Study of the Trunk of an Elm Tree (1821). It will look nothing like Constable’s, however I wanted to think about the rugged surface he depicts, while I am working with a splintered geometry. 

 

I am currently exploring issues of: Longing. The poet Osip Mandelstam speaks about poetry being a message in the bottle cast upon the sea, when we find it we discover it is addressed to us. I am very sympathetic to this longing to communicate. The message may be afloat for many years, but it is always out there waiting for the future viewer to find it addressed to them.

 

What I love most about being an artist...                       I create art where I feel....

     

   

 

To view more from Jered in the APT Collection, visit his artist page here.