“We got to talking when I had lunch,” said Glenn, who sat at one of Sternkopf’s tables. Soon they exchanged stories, information and became interested in working together. “She liked my other book.”
  Simon and Schuster published Glenn’s second book, “A Grandmother’s Story,” in 1992. In 1989, his cartoons graced a book titled “Aerobics for Bad Girls.” “Sail On” is his third book.
   “A Grandmother’s Story” title is fitting, because Glenn owes his start in the world of art to his great-grandmother, Estell.  “My great-grandmother was a painter and I remember painting at 5 years old. I had my first show when I was 6 ... it was a citywide show in Madison.”

   Estell was born in 1869, so she was “fairly old” when Glenn was growing up, he said.  “My great-grandmother was an influence. Both my great-grandmother and grandmother were artistic types,” said Glenn.
   However, his own mother and father, while not against his artistic
pursuits, were simply “tolerant” of their son’s passion. Art “wasn’t a focus” for his parents, he said.  Glenn has never taken formal art training, so he’s admittedly a self-taught artist.  He does hold a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison in English literature. He earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English as an undergraduate at the University of Southern California and University of Wisconsin.

   Since his first show in 1952, Glenn’s work has appeared in about 12 solo shows and 38 group shows in Wisconsin, Washington, New Mexico, Kansas, Illinois and California.  Acrylics are Glenn’s favorite medium to work with, however, his artistic process varies when he is either painting fantasy landscapes or figurative work.
   “For landscapes, I like to first go for some of the underlying structure .... and hopefully the forms surface out of that structure,” he said. “For more figurative work, I use a more different approach.”
    “I like to work towards the force — not of the personality — but the force of the body,” Glenn added. “Sometimes I like to layer narrative elements into figurative paintings.”
   “I like them to tell stories,” he said.
   For Glenn, painting is a sort of response to the “sensuousness and complexity of the world.” 

    “Another major part is I like to play with paint and the colors,” said Glenn. “It’s just the paint, playing with the paint.”
   The time spent on his typical piece varies because he has no real typical piece. Some of his paintings are dark, defined and moonlit, others are bright, colorful and abstract. They also vary in size.  One of his larger paintings, based on the movie “Giant,” no less, features a rendering of James Dean with his head pointed down. In the distance, a forest fire rages with plumes of smoke making their way towards Dean.  Glenn spent about two months on this particular piece. Then, like most of his paintings, he let it sit.
   “They take about two months to get down, but there’s also sitting time,” said Glenn. “Because I found that if I let it rest for awhile, I see things I hadn’t seen before. It’s kind of like putting wine in a flask. You’ve got to let it age.”

   While his work may be methodical, his favorite piece is a colorfully abstract painting called, “Sunlight.” It’s part of a two-piece collection that includes a piece called “Moonlight.”
   “It’s very spontaneous. I like how all the big brush strokes worked out,” said Glenn. “I don’t know if I could duplicate it like the others I work at.”
   Ultimately, Glenn says he tries to accomplish “something surprising” in his art.   “I want it to really come alive,” he added. “Another way to say it is that I really like it when a painting sings.”
   Glenn, who works as a professional artist and author, has no children. However, his two locally well-known dogs, “Squeak and Roshi,” often accompany him to the beach and watch him paint.  While his paintings aren’t on display locally, his book “Sail On” is available at the Cannon Beach Book Company.

(C) 2002 Cannon Beach Gazette Reprinted by pemission