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Bath, Maine area residents step Artist John Gable uses locals as characters
in western mural John Gable, an accomplished artist based in a studio above Renys Department Store on Front Street, put them there in the form of a 320-square-foot mural of the old West. Though the scene is based on an upscale saloon in 1880's Tombstone, Ariz., the people in it are based on those in downtown Bath. Gable, who for two decades has put his talents to use on projects fo numerous corporations and galleries, worked for three months on the 40-foot-long mural. Gable started his career designing cars for General Motors, working on teams that designed Trans-Ams and Cadillacs. But his love of visual beauty was born long before he had a "great deal to do with" that gawdy "Firechicken" that adorns the hoods of the 1970s-era Pontiac sports cars. "The guy painting this is twelve years old," quipped Gable recently while contemplating some of the mural's final touches. "I've had so much fun with this." As a boy growing up in Kentucky, Gable and his twin brother played cowboys and Indians in their own unique way. They'd each draw pictures of gunfighters, and the best drawing won the battle. But it's not as if western murals are all Gable does. Murals are only part of his portfolio, and his subjects come from a wide spectrum. Most of his work are watercolor paintings that he exhibits and sells in galleries in Portland, ME, Boston, MA and elsewhere for up to $25,000. His prints also are available widely, including art stores in this area. Gable, 57 of Woolwich, ME, has taken commissions from large organizations and corporations, such as the America's Cup sailing team and Audi Motors, ventures that have taken him to many countries. He even did a portrait of Michael Kennedy for the Kennedy family. "At my age I paint what I like," he said. "My subject matter is very broad." Regardless of what he's painting, every piece of art that flows from his brushes has something in common: They're all about the power of light and the atmosphere around the human condition. In the western saloon mural, rich, vibrant colors give texture and life to the scene. On top of his technique, another thing that makes the mural seem authentic, he said, is the fact that the people in it are real. He knew what positions he wanted the characters in and he photographed people in those positions before painting them into the mural.
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"I try to do research and make everything authentic and historically correct," he said. "That's very important to me. If I'm going to do it, I may as well do it correctly." Much of the inspiration for the mural came from several
books on the old West Gable scatterd on the floor of his studio. Everything
in the painting appears as it did in the 1880's, right down to the
spitoons and the rags the cowboys used to wipe tobacco spit from their
faces.
above: section of saloon mural using Bath, Maine
residents. To make his task easier Gable used acrylic paints on the mural for two reasons: oils take too long to dry and acrylics will hold up better under the rigorous trip south, which involved rolling the canvas coverd with 25 pounds of paint. Gable said he loves to paint, loves his subjects and loves the lifestyle of an artist, but what's the real reason he undertakes such ambitious projects? "My art comes from taking on challenges,"
Gable said. "I like challenges. And living the life of an artist
is a privelage. I can get away with murder because of the artists' stereotype.
I'm very grateful for that."
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