J Michael Walker – Art and Cake

J Michael Walker
Los Angeles, CA
Age 72

What keeps you excited in the studio?
So many choices! Recognizing and valuing the great gift i have of being able to work in this studio, my favorite place in the world – that is a huge factor. I also treasure my ability to shift seamlessly from drawing to painting to digital photomontage to photography and back, whenever I am mysteriously called to do so. I love never knowing what I will do next, nor where a piece may lead me, as I wait to seeing it revealed.

Looking back at your trajectory as an artist, how would you say your work has developed?
I continue to always welcome chance into my work – an aside, a chance lyric, an interruption, a book that catches my eye – all of it taking my work in an unanticipated yet necessary direction. I also take seriously my “oficio” as a vessel for the message my work conveys.

What role do you think the artist has in today’s society?
I presume every artist decides this for herself. I recognize there’s an inherent spiritual component in all of my work, an intentionality to create something beautiful and edifying, a desire to create an homage in every portrait. A Candomble elder from Bahia, Dona Cece, said of my work, “You depict people not as they look but as they are inside. That is a gift.”

What’s the most important advice you could give to an aspiring artist?
Nothing matters more than your particular style, your unique voice. Keep making mistakes until you accept that the mistakes are trying to lead you along the path you are SUPPOSED to take.

Does age matter in art? Why or why not?
Age matters differently to all of us and in different ways, and probably at different moments. Sometimes my age (71) allows me to look back and feel I’ve accomplished a lot, artistically, even if I’m relatively unknown. Yet I also see all the ideas I have in my brain and in my notes and wonder how I shall ever accomplish even half of them. One just gets up and gets to work. As I’ve told my son, “so long as I have one good eye and one good hand. keep me going.”

What can we look forward to from you next?
Wish I knew! But, my brithday this year, on June 3rd, I not only turn 72, but more importantly it marks exactly 50 years since I wandered into a tiny village in Mexico’s Sierra Tarahumara and met the young woman who would become my wife and life partner, as I also fell in love with the culture, the languages, and the ways of relating to people and the earth there.
I hope and anticipat I will devote a sizeable part of the year to come creating artwork honoring this personally important milestone, in gratitude and wonder….

Is there anything else you would like to share about being an artist later in life?
It is a true gift.

http://www.jmichaelwalker.com
@jmichaelwalker1