Before moving to the Central Coast about 20 years ago, Jayne Behman taught regular art classes for children and teens in Palm Springs. Behman is a successful artist who sold her first abstract painting at age 18. She shares an anecdote from her time as a teacher that sums up her perspective on the right time to complete a project.
“I remember students asking me, ‘When is my painting finished?’ My answer was, ‘When you’re done learning from it and when you’re no longer enjoying it,'” Behman told the Sun by email.
Behman’s career as an artist has been one of constant experimentation. Over the years, she has dabbled in a variety of mediums, including acrylic painting, gel printing, and various digital art platforms.
The latter approach gives her the freedom to continually modify some artwork without committing to permanent changes – comparable to saving individual drafts of a document without revising the original.
“The possibilities are endless,” said Behman, the featured artist of Gallery Los Olivos’ next solo exhibition, Brushes and Pixels, which opens Sunday, Sept. 1, and will be on view through the end of the month.
Photos courtesy of Jayne Behman
MIX IT: Local artist Jayne Behman’s new solo exhibition at Gallery Los Olivos features various mediums she works with, including gel printing. She used paint, stencils, mixed media paper and other resources to create the gel printing. Ban on the bombto be seen in the exhibition.
Previous presentations of Behman’s digital art include “Electric Abstractions,” a trio exhibition held at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) in 2018.
Both the SLOMA show and the artist’s new exhibition at Los Olivos were attempts to celebrate Behman’s digital creations, which she often completes using an iPad. But as technology has evolved over the past six years, so has Behman’s approach.
Although the use of artificial intelligence (AI) art applications such as DaVinci AI and Midjourney is considered controversial and has divided opinion among artists, Behman sees both as helpful resources for her digital art and advocates for a creative component of AI that many people seem to overlook.
“In fact, the creativity in using AI – today – lies in how the creator puts together word suggestions to initiate an image,” said Behman. “I believe AI is a starting tool and could generate some interesting ideas.”
Behman said she writes specific prompts in AI applications before using the resulting images “as an initial suggestion” that she later “completely changes … to suit my emotional needs.”
In other words, Behman describes the art produced by AI as merely “a beginning, not an end.”
“In my opinion, AI lacks a certain ‘warmth,'” Behman said. “It’s monotonous.”
Photos courtesy of Jayne Behman
BRUSHING HOUR: With abstract paintings like R+G 566021artist Jayne Behman deliberately chooses titles that “defy limitation,” she told the Sun by email. “I must not lead the viewer to see in an abstract work something that I want to convey to him.”
For some of her recent pieces—which were developed and altered based on AI-generated images—Behman has found a unique way to counteract the cold, collected, and literally inhuman nature of AI.
“Instead of having them printed on paper or canvas, I wanted to create ‘warmth,’ so I decided to have them printed on poly felt,” Behman explained, “which gives the pieces thickness and warmth.”
The artist will participate in a question-and-answer session to discuss her art and techniques during a reception on Sunday, September 15, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Gallery Los Olivos. According to press materials, the gallery invites the public to “witness the convergence of art and technology” at the reception and during Behman’s exhibition at the venue.
Behman suggests that visitors do not shy away from getting a close look at some of her exhibited abstract artworks of a certain size for a specific reason.
“Most of the pieces in my exhibition at Los Olivos Gallery are large, and I love large abstract works of art,” said Behman, who encourages viewers to stand “physically close” to her expansive abstract visions to deepen them and “immerse themselves in the action.”
Arts editor Caleb Wiseblood’s favorite place to soak in a hot tub is in the hot tub. Send comments to (email protected).
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