The weird world of Max Grover

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, January 4, 2006

The Port Townsend artist and illustrator brings his quirky vision to Bainbridge Arts and Crafts this month.

The sky doesn’t have to be blue and the grass doesn’t have to be green.

These are truths in Max Grover’s world, which looks for the extraordinary in the ordinary.

“Everything I paint comes from my imagination. I go out and get impressions of the world and bring them back to the studio,” Grover said. “It’s the way kids paint. I try to remember the world as it is. It’s not as inventive or whimsical as when I make it up myself.”

Grover has fun with his paintings, whether they are to hang in galleries or illustrate children’s books. He relishes plays on words, visual jokes and fanciful characters, all suited up in vibrant colors.

In the immortal words of one his mentors: “Subject matter is just an excuse to do a painting. It has very little to do with the painting and how it is rendered.”

“Hopefully, I won’t run out of ideas,” said Grover, who works “probably 25 percent as an illustrator and 75 percent as a painter.”

Deadlines are a great motivator for the Port Townsend-based artist, who was born in Bremerton, raised in Tacoma and lived in a variety of places since, including New York, San Francisco and Seattle. He moved to Port Townsend from Portland in 1993, attracted by the beauty and the nurturing artistic community.

His upcoming exhibit at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts was proposed three months ago, and Grover estimates he did more than 50 paintings for the show.

“Everything was started and completed in that time,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of fudge room for experimentation.”

He looks forward to starting new works, and has “things stacked up on top of each other.”

“A lot of times I’ll write the titles before I paint anything,” he said. “The images are driven by words.”

Among Grover’s endearing recurring themes are animal crackers – think iced cookies with sprinkles – cityscapes, dogs and cats.

“With the addition of a red car, the work becomes ‘a Max Grover painting,’” he said.

He also loves to paint snow scenes and showcases “plenty of plumbing features,” including faucets, fixtures and pipes.”

With no art education behind him, Grover left his career as a printer and became a painter when he was in his 30s. Then he became an illustrator of children’s books.

“I’d always drawn and painted in high school,” he said. “It was always there. I knew it was something I wanted to do.”

His biggest hurdle was himself.

“I’m the biggest thing I had to get over. Developing a work ethic and discipline to be able to do it. Early on I surrounded myself with some really successful people. I had no starving artist mentality,” he said.

And he had some luck. Grover’s first book, and his most successful to date, was “Accidental Zucchini,” which came out in 1993. It took him one phone call to get published. His latest, for which he is the illustrator, is “I Wish I Was a Pilot,” published by Barefoot Books.

“I have a little sign that says, ‘If it’s going to be, it’s up to me,’” Grover said. “Artists first have to create and then connect.”

Grover and his wife, Sherry, live with two cats, Oreo and Cheddar, in a house “that looks like one of my paintings,” he said. He works from his studio and together they run a gallery on Water Street in Port Townsend.

Once a week Grover joins a group of painters for three hours of “play time.”

“Being an artist, I thought I would get to do whatever I damn well please,” he said. “The one thing I would change is I would get to act on my ideas a lot more. I have commitments to certain projects. I find (research and development) time essential.”

The theme of the upcoming BAC show – laughing away winter blues – gives Grover an excuse to do some funny paintings.

“The mind work is not too esoteric,” he said. “There are no secret messages or anything hidden in my work. If I bring a smile to your face, I’ve done my job. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

He’s looking forward to coming to Bainbridge and seeing the other exhibit in the BAC show, works by a group of artists under the name Comic Relief.

“Usually it’s a letdown after the holidays,” he said. “I think it was wise to do a show like this.”

* * * * *

Mad Max

Artwork by Max Grover will shoo away the wintry blahs Jan. 6 to 31 at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts’ Gallery. A reception honoring the artist will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Jan. 6. Call 842-3132 or see www.maxgrover.com.