Jac Tilton
1946-2024
Jac Tilton had a fascination with rust, ruin, and physical collapse. Many of his watercolor works resulted from this attraction to old or out-of-the-way places and subjects. He's drawn to these subjects, not from a sense of nostalgia, but because the color, texture, and overall patina cannot be artificially created. These qualities are the result of use, abuse, neglect, or abandonment, and capturing them makes Jac's art unique and interesting. He especially appreciated the juxtaposition of a key element in the image: a shiny bus with a derelict house and woods, or a car painted to emulate the Stars & Stripes that has been deliberately mangled in a demolition derby. Jac mostly works in watercolor and black-and-white media. His subject matter was landscape and figurative work as well as abstract and non-objective imagery. Whether the medium is watercolor or monochrome, his process of creating the work involved applying many layers to create an image. In watercolor, Jac used a combination of washes, glazes, and dry brush. In monochrome works, graphite, carbon, and charcoal, his process of layering involved applying, smearing, erasing, and reapplying until a satisfactory combination of contrast, value, and texture was achieved.
Jac Tilton had a fascination with rust, ruin, and physical collapse. Many of his watercolor works resulted from this attraction to old or out-of-the-way places and subjects. He's drawn to these subjects, not from a sense of nostalgia, but because the color, texture, and overall patina cannot be artificially created. These qualities are the result of use, abuse, neglect, or abandonment, and capturing them makes Jac's art unique and interesting. He especially appreciated the juxtaposition of a key element in the image: a shiny bus with a derelict house and woods, or a car painted to emulate the Stars & Stripes that has been deliberately mangled in a demolition derby. Jac mostly works in watercolor and black-and-white media. His subject matter was landscape and figurative work as well as abstract and non-objective imagery. Whether the medium is watercolor or monochrome, his process of creating the work involved applying many layers to create an image. In watercolor, Jac used a combination of washes, glazes, and dry brush. In monochrome works, graphite, carbon, and charcoal, his process of layering involved applying, smearing, erasing, and reapplying until a satisfactory combination of contrast, value, and texture was achieved.
