About the Show

 

Honatke has a way of luring the viewer into his dreamlike wonder world; whether with curving patterned trees, dancing stars, wavey rivers with floating fish, or a seductive, cubists like tangle of bodies, (or shapes?) the viewer will be instantly immersed and involved. 

 

Some of Honatke’s strongest subjects are his large eyed front and center women. Their eyes meet the viewer ‘eye to eye’ demanding full attention. Even when their eyes are closed, or just sleepy-eyed, all are inviting you to join them in their dreaming or maybe daring the viewer to look inward and recall their own dreams under the moon and stars.

 

Honatke has a strong identifiable style, still there are echoes of, or perhaps even an homage to the Fauvist Artists reflected in his own rich color-full palette. “Salad Days” is filled with swirling lines and patterns, which along with the deep bold colors, give his artworks a hypnotizing effect. 

 

Honatke creates stories of ‘some place’ where the possibility of both the sensual and innocence can mingle and where a much-needed sense of hopeful reverie can return.

​

Artist Statement

 

Artist Paul Honatke talks about his show “Salad Days” at the Nevada City Winery Gallery.

 

In my art I combine a loose drawing style with careful painting. The goal is to create a believable other world. A place where drawing throws conventions out the window and painting quietly brings them back in.

 

The human subjects, in my paintings present a quietude which invites self-contemplation. Direct, and generally non-committal, they are every-persons in the world theater. Stylistically, I’ve been influenced by the usual suspects - Picasso, Matisse - and perhaps less obviously, Paul Klee. I like to think that I’ve put some distance between my work and those revered folk by developing a fairly recognizable style of my own, particularly in the drawing.

 

Some of the paintings in this show are brand new, the rest were done over the past two years, approximately. With one or two exceptions, none of the subjects are drawn from life. Obviously! They are all interpretations and inventions. Sometimes spontaneous, sometimes culled from past sketchbooks, which constitute a rich resource of undeveloped ideas. A cast of characters in search of a play.

 

During the Covid shutdown a few years ago I began posting drawings on social media. These began as loose images on the pages of The New Yorker magazine, moved onto pages of various books, and eventually evolved into fairly elaborate works on paper. There are a couple examples in this show, “Hi-Lo” and “Riverside Drive”.

 

Painting is a process of creating problems and finding solutions. I usually begin with a central figure to which I add other elements to create a narrative and develop composition. It’s a puzzle. In my recent work I find I am increasingly reliant on fine lines. They are the high notes that define the shapes and, I hope, make the image come alive. I am constantly striving for, and almost never achieving, perfection in this pursuit. It’s a bit obsessive maybe, but let’s call it passionate.

 

About the Artist

 

Artist Paul Honatke was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. He began taking art classes in high school and received his BFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. 

Paul spent summers away from college, and intermittent seasons after school, living in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. While there, he exhibited in local galleries and restaurants, produced commissioned paintings and murals, and also created flyers and posters for events in the growing town.

 

 In the mid-90s he traveled to Europe three times to see the art centers of Paris, Rome, London and Berlin, as well as the more exotic atmospheres of Morocco and Turkey.

There is a certain multicultural feel to much of Paul’s art. During the late eighties and nineties Paul lived in several different areas of the United States and explored Mexico and the American west. During this time, he continued to paint and exhibit, while absorbing a wide variety of experiences that continue to influence his art.

 

For several years he lived in San Francisco where he studied graphic arts at CCSF. While exhibiting at restaurants and cafés, he further supported himself with freelance illustration and picture framing, also working as a faux finish painter with clients in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area. In 2003 he relocated to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, he now lives in Grass Valley, CA.

Aside from painting, Paul’s interests include cooking, nature photography, hiking and camping, and most recently, kayaking in the lakes of Northern California.

 

​Artist Website​​​