PLATTSBURGH — Artist Michael Burpoe elevates everyday Saranac Lake people, activities and events in his solo exhibition, “Here.”
“‘Here’ is all about life in this area — right around here,” Burpoe sad. “I think the culture in this area is one of the things that I’m most trying to convey and depict. I think the culture here is very unique.
“I think it’s partially because of the winter and how intense the climate is, but also I think it has something to do with how beautiful the area is. So it attracts a unique type of people. What I try my best to do is kind of show in some of my art some of the stuff that people don’t always depict in their paintings.”
Reared and raised in Saranac Lake, Burpoe majored in graphic design and graduated summa cum laude from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2017. Relocating to Charlotte, North Carolina, he worked six years for a company that builds websites for the jewelry industry.
Burpoe still works for the same company remotely from his Kiwassa Road home in Saranac Lake.
McKenzie Mountain, Baker Mountain, Lake Flower and Saranac Lake’s architecture are favorite subjects of Adirondack Plein Air Festival artists that arrive in town annually during the third week of August.
“But I, sometimes I feel like they’re kind of missing out because they don’t paint how interesting the people are and how Party on the Patio brings people from all different walks of life or how people go canoeing or kayaking down the river even before the ice even comes off it,” he said.
“I just think it’s a really a cool place. I really want to share the culture as seen through a 30 year old’s eyes. It’s all work that’s new. It’s all recent paintings.”
WHY WATERCOLOR
Burpoe identifies himself as a medium agnostic.
“If you put me on a beach, I would draw in the sand if I needed to,” he said. “But the thing is, watercolor is really expressive, and I think if you had me paint the same reference image 10 times on the same piece of paper, it would turn out differently just because of the nature of watercolor.
“Like sometimes the colors pop more or they blend or run around on the page. I think that’s so fun. Truthfully, I think one of the advantages of it is that they are so compact. With oils, you carry a lot of different things. They can be kind of smelly. With acrylics, it’s pretty expensive because you have to go through so much of them. With mine, they kind of fold up into a pretty small little kit.
“I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve traveled quite extensively around the world, and I always bring my paints with me. I’ve been able to paint from Japan, Argentina, the Netherlands and all over the U.S. It’s kind of like a way to become even more deeply intimate with areas and scenery by having your paints with you.”
THE PROCESS
When Burpoe does plein air, or outdoor, painting, he packs his bag and his kitm which includes a collapsible plein air easel that allows him to take it anywhere.
“What I typically do is — I already have a piece of paper cut for a frame that I know I’m going to use — I do a light sketch of what I’m going to draw,” he said. “Then I usually paint my washes, which is nice and loose. I layer in the colors.
“With watercolor, what is interesting is there is no white paint. The only white you have is your paper, so if you want there to be white on the page, you either have to use liquid mask, which is latex suspended in ammonia. You put that on and it keeps the paper white in certain spots.
“You typically work from light to dark, so you layer your colors like painting stained glass, if you will. You layer them on top of each other, and you put your dark layer last and that kind of finishes the painting for you.”
SIGNATURE
Burpoe signs his artwork with his middle name: Czerny.
“That’s distinct because my grandpa — his name is Mario — he was from Poland. Czerny means black in Polish. That was his last name,” he said.
“When he came to this country, he immigrated here after World War II. He came here with $5 and a dream, the quintessential immigrant. They changed the spelling of his name, as they did with many immigrants, and they Americanized it and changed it to Cherny. My mom, as a result, and my grandma both have their last names Cherny.
“My mom kept her maiden name, and I’m so very proud of that. When my mom was naming me and my brothers, we actually all have the same middle name, which is the original spelling of that last name, Czerny.
“The rest of my extended family from Poland, you know, did not make it out of the war, so we’re the only ones who have that original spelling from our family name, and I’m quite proud of that. That’s why I pay homage to that with my middle name.”
GUILD INVITE
Burpoe joined the Adirondack Artists Guild Gallery in January.
“I had been going to the different art events,” he said. “I had kind of made it known that I was interested in joining and I had just moved back to the area. The thing is they always have 15 members in the guild — no more, no less. I had to wait until someone was going to be leaving.
“I paint a lot, and I post a lot of my work. I think a couple of the members knew that I was very interested, and they invited me to go to a meeting and just sort of introduce myself, and I did. I thought that was an honor. I got the invite when one of the members left. I hope that I sort of make them proud.”
“Here,” running now through Dec. 1 in the guild at 52 Main St., Saranac Lake, caps his first year as a member.
“It’s my way of showing what a younger kind of youth perspective is of the town because I think we need to celebrate that culture just as much as we celebrate the beauty of the scenery. I just try my best to illuminate that with my paintings,” he said.
“I’m very proud to be from Saranac Lake and to live here. I think one of the best parts about a town this size is that you can really make an impact. If you donate, you know the money is going to a place that needs it. There’s a lot of discourse and discussion about should you live in a major city to be able get ahead in your career. I’ve been really fortunate that I think I’ve done that and I’ve traveled, but I’ve been able to bring those kind of experiences back to this town and hopefully better the village as a result of it.”
If You Go WHAT: “Here” by Michael Burpoe WHEN: Through Dec. 1 WHERE: The Adirondack Artists Guild Gallery, 52 Main St., Saranac Lake. HOURS: Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. — 5 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. — 3 p.m. PHONE: 518-891-2615. ONLINE: The Guild is on Facebook, Instagram, and on the web at www.adirondackartistsguild.com.