WAM! The Wesleyan Artist Market Goes Virtual in 2021- Julian Tablada Spotlight

Giving precedence to health and safety, the Wesleyan Artist Market is adhering to COVID-19 protocols.

But instead of having to cancel like last year when the pandemic took the world by surprise, this year they’ve had the marvelous idea of using technology to allow a contactless experience.

In the season’s spirit of renewal and rebirth, I present to you the Wesleyan Artist Market, reimagined.

We won’t be deprived of the fine arts, wares and jewelry we’ve all come to look forward to each spring, and 82 professional artists will be able to share their works while bolstering Wesleyan’s admirable art program. Win! Win! Win!

Mark your calendars for April 22 – 29. The show is being hosted by Shopify and will go live to the public at 4pm on the 22nd. Go to wesleyan-artist-market-2021.myshopify.com and enjoy the show!

Julian Tablada

Wanderlust

Does your journal look like anything like this? Neither does mine!

Whose does, you ask? These are pages from retired architect Julian Tablada’s travel journal. “I’ve always had the habit of carrying a journal to sketch as I experience new places. That’s how I understand the journey, nature and the built environment,” Tablada said.

Whether for work or pleasure, Tablada travels with his journal and his watercolor box on a quest to capture new surroundings.

Up for the watercolor challenge

Tablada selected his mediums of choice — pen, ink and watercolor paint — because he likes how they are easily transportable, and they allow him to capture his environs quickly during his voyages. In stark contrast to the precision and control required in designing architecture, he likes the fact that using watercolor requires a certain abandon to the will of the paint.

“Watercolor paint can be quite difficult. It’s a challenge. It has a very dynamic quality; in some ways it wants to do its own thing,” Tablada said. “It allows for spontaneity which is harder to get with other mediums.”

A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind –Webb Chiles

A passion for seafaring has Tablada teaching sailing lessons at the lake and naturally being drawn to coastal locations around the world: The Virgin Islands, the Caribbean, Italy, Greece. One of his favorite places to paint is the low country.

“Years ago, I fell in love with coastal South Carolina and Georgia marsh scenes,” the artist revealed.

Behind him during our Zoom interview, I could see some of his current work underway — paintings of the Gulf Coast. Tablada captures the simplistic landscape beautifully.

“A coastal, maritime topic is what I’m focusing on now,” Tablada said. “When we’re at a beach or a harbor, the kids and my wife know to watch me. I may be walking and sketching at the same time. I get a lot of things down very quickly using whatever is available. It might be a sketch of sea water or wine from lunch,” Tablada recounted.

Some of his paintings are a combination of memories, so they’re not specific. But most of them are of a particular scene or place.

A symbiotic back and forth

While a background in architecture allows Tablada to instinctively understand proportions and space, there is unquestionably a shift from left brain to right brain activity as he transitions from architect to artist. Tablada describes it as a symbiotic back and forth.

“I’m not classically trained at all. I’ve always drawn, my mother painted. I have sketched, painted and played with art as a hobby. Going into architecture, it was a talent that helped me. I’ve always kept that artistic side to myself as something that I do for my own enjoyment. Now I can focus my time on being a full-time artist,” Tablada beamed.

Tools of the trade

French 140-pound watercolor paper is Tablada’s preference. He likes the cold press as it provides a little texture and pebbling. “When you look at a watercolor, you might see pools of dark paint or skimps where there isn’t paint, a technique to bring out highlights. The textured paper allows that to happen,” Tablada explained.

As for paints, Tablada enjoys Winsor & Newton. “They go back centuries; they’re professional grade watercolors, liquid in a tube. I like the brilliance of the color and the ease of using them. They come in small tubes that are easy to travel with,” he noted.

Growing pains

Having worked for years in a small 7” x 9” notebook, creating larger paintings is proving to be task. “It’s really easy to paint in the notebook,” Tablada said. “I’ve been working this past year to go larger. I’ve experimented going double the size. When you scale up to 24” x 30”, your technique has to change to get the same effect,” Tablada shared.

Going bigger is proving to be a task. Small pieces can be completed in as little as 3 to 10 minutes. Capturing that same fluidity and rapidity in his larger work can be evasive.

Purchase Julian Tablada watercolors

“I’m thrilled and it is an honor when someone shares the love of the subject matter and likes my work enough that they want to purchase it and bring into their office or their home,” Tablada revealed.

You may find his works on display in Alpharetta, at Wild Hope Gallery on Holcomb Bridge Road. Be sure to look him up during the Wesleyan Artist Market.

Also find him at julianwatercolors.com and on Instagram, @JulianWatercolors.