CONSHOHOCKEN — Jon Bandish’s mother knew he’d be a successful artist when he was in kindergarten. Fast forward nearly four decades, and mom was right. Her Plymouth Meeting prodigy has become a professional oil painter with several exhibits to his credit, most recently, the Summer’s End Art Show at Coll’s Custom Framing & Gallery in Conshohocken.
Bandish’s love for beach settings is obvious in the seascapes on display at Coll’s through Sept. 17. He currently lives in Dagsboro, Del., near Bethany Beach, and his depictions of blue skies over gentle waves and sandy shores whisper summer.
After graduating from Plymouth Whitemarsh High School in 2001, Bandish attended Temple University’s Tyler School of Art. His education there “influenced me in what I was doing for a long while after graduating.” Likewise, time spent “playing several string instruments, including the violin, ukulele, guitar and bass guitar.”
“Music has been a big influence on the visual art and vice versa,” Bandish says. “I call myself the Jimmy Buffett of painting because of my love of summer, beach culture and his music, as well as the music of others.”
Another major influence, the several years he volunteered and worked at Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill.
“At Woodmere…I began to have a real affinity for both the Pennsylvania Impressionists and Hudson River School, the latter becoming the biggest influence on who I am today,” Bandish says. “I was always infatuated with nature, specifically summertime, warm air, the beach, and after really delving into those topics with respect to several of those painters, it just began to click.
“I was always drawn deeply to the colors of the late afternoon summer sun touching everything with this orangey-yellow glow. I can still see the way the sun shined over the entirety of Plymouth Swim Club when I was a lifeguard there as a teenager. Forty-year-old me realized that way back then, the summer sun, the water, how the reflections of light seemingly danced over everything…was just enchanting.”
His Artist’s Statement adds a creative nod to “the poetic and transcendental writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau (which demonstrate) how we can understand ourselves within the beauty of the natural world, embracing solitude and taking time to observe our surroundings.”
Bandish believes “in many ways, I’m painting memories of things…as much as I’m painting the actual thing itself.”
“The Hudson River School painters were focused on how being in nature can shape our lives,” he continues. “That perspective is almost the story of my life. The actual art is also a testament to older ideas about art and beauty. My earlier work was more abstracted, based less in a reflection of the natural world. And although much of it doesn’t appear to be connected to what I’m doing now, it’s the foundation of and, really, culmination of my thoughts and experiences that lead me to what I’m doing now.”
All of which reshaped Bandish’s creative approach into “a more traditional process now…where I draw out the composition in total detail.”
“Next, I work on an underpainting that acts as both a ground and a value study to help determine the viewer’s journey,” he explains. “After that…is a process of thick and thin applications of local colors to help build a surface where every detail of nature is stressed over. I think details matter, and in regard to nature, paying attention to the details has helped me to slow down and really enjoy those little things. It’s the little things that often matter the most in life, right?”
Among the things that “matter the most,” the backing Bandish has received from family.
“My mom and dad always supported me, whether I wanted to play guitar in a band or take extra art classes on weekends,” he says. “My wife, Avery, is my biggest supporter. Without her, I’d be lost. She’s helped me build my art into a business and helped me realize what potential is there and has helped me reach so many goals I’ve had.”
Bandish is a member of the National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society, American Society of Marine Artist and American Artists Professional League. He is co-president of Greater Millsboro Art League and teaches privately in his studio and at GMAL. Following his Coll’s show, Bandish is scheduled to participate in exhibits in New York, North Carolina and Florida. Additional information is available at www.jonbandishart.com.
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Local artist’s Summer’s End art show now on display - Main Line
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