Before moving to the Central Coast nearly 20 years ago, Jane Behman regularly hosted art classes for children and teens in Palm Springs. A prolific artist who sold her first abstract painting at age 18, Behman has an anecdote from her time as a teacher that sums up her thinking about finding the right time to finish a project.
“I remember my students asking me, 'When is a painting finished?' and my answer was, 'When the learning from it is gone and it's no longer fun,'” Behman told The Sun in an email.
Behrman's trajectory as an artist is one of constant experimentation, as he has dipped his toes into various forms of media over the years, including acrylic painting, gel prints and various digital art platforms.
The latter practice gives her the freedom to continually modify some artworks without committing to permanent changes, which is similar to saving separate drafts of a document without modifying the original.
“The possibilities are endless,” said Behman, who is the featured artist in Gallery Los Olivos' upcoming solo exhibition, “Brushes and Pixels,” which opens Sunday, September 1, and will be on display through the end of the month.
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Image courtesy of Jane Behman
Mix it up: Local artist Jane Behman's new solo exhibition at Gallery Los Olivos showcases the various mediums she works in, including gel printmaking. She used paint, stencils, mixed media paper and other resources to create “Ban the Bomb,” a gel print on display in the exhibition.
Previous exhibitions of Behman's digital art include the triptych “Electric Abstractions” at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) in 2018.
Both the SLOMA show and the new exhibit at Los Olivos were attempts to celebrate Behman’s digital work, which is often completed using an iPad, but just as technology has evolved over the past six years, so has Behman’s approach.
While the use of artificial intelligence (AI) art applications like DaVinci AI and Midjourney has been controversial and divisive among artists, Behman sees both as useful resources for digital art and supports the creative element of AI that many overlook.
“Really, the creativity of using AI today is how creators put together word prompts to create an image,” Behman says. “We feel that AI is a starting point and a tool that can potentially spark some interesting ideas.”
Behrman said he would write specific prompts into the AI application, then use the resulting images as “initial suggestions” that he would then modify “totally to fit my emotional needs.”
In other words, Behman is saying that AI-generated art is “not the end, just the beginning.”
“What I feel is missing from AI is warmth,” Behman says. “There's a flatness to it.”
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Image courtesy of Jane Behman
For abstract paintings like Brush Hour: R+G 566021, artist Jane Behman deliberately chooses titles that “defy limitation,” she told The Sun in an email: “The viewer should not be led to see in the abstract work something that I want them to experience.”
In some of her final works, which evolved from and were adapted from AI-generated imagery, Behman found her own way of combating the cold, dispassionate, and literally inhuman nature of AI.
“Rather than printing on paper or canvas, I wanted to convey a sense of 'warmth,' so I decided to print on poly felt,” Behman explains. “This gives the piece a sense of thickness and warmth.”
Behman will be hosting a Q&A about his work and techniques at a reception at Gallery Los Olivos from 1 to 4 pm on Sunday, September 15. The gallery invites the public to “witness the convergence of art and technology” through the reception and Behman's exhibition at the gallery, according to a press release.
Behman suggests that visitors shouldn't hesitate to get up close and personal with some of the abstract artworks on display, which are of a certain size, for specific reasons.
“Most of the works I show at Gallery Los Olivos are large-scale, and I love large-scale abstract artworks,” Behman said, encouraging viewers to get “physically close” in front of his expansive abstract visions and “become immersed in what's going on.”
Art Editor Caleb Wiseblood's favorite way to soak is in a hot tub. Send your comments to (email protected).
