JAY M. KREIGHBAUM
I live in Tucson, AZ. I grew up all over America and Europe, following my father’s career in the Army and then my own in the Air Force. I spent my early childhood, 6 to 9 years old in Orleans France, and my father would take us on weekend trips with readings from the Michelin guide for information. These trips were to Paris, to the historic sites and to the museums; and trips to cathedrals like Chartres and Notre Dame. These experiences shaped me and I gained a love of art and architecture, and a reverence for beauty and order.
I started drawing when I was 13, and have kept at it. I received a BFA (Painting & Drawing) from North Texas University in 1982. I did not have the courage then to become a “starving artist.” Instead, I entered the Air Force and flew fighters for 12 years and then did strategy and future capabilities work. I retired in 2011, and came to Tucson to work at Raytheon as a Sr Program Mgr. pursuing Advanced Technology programs. I retired in 2022, so here I am finally after 40 years pursuing my calling and passion for art and writing.
My hero as a boy was Leonardo Da Vinci, because he pursued both Art and Science. I have held a belief since my 20’s that pursuing these very different disciplines, makes for a richer and more balanced whole. The tension of opposites and their accommodation, merging, and resolution is a common theme in my work.
My art is a journey of discovery in a partnership with source. I often use what I call an “evolving design” whereby I do not start with any subject for the piece. I simply draw and solve design problems as they come up. And I keep an eye out, eventually the subject emerges and I can see what it is meant to be. Now I am a more intentional and focused on giving the subject support to be fully recognized and articulated.
My art work is spiritual and I enter it with play, reverence and gratitude for the privilege of creating.
My heartfelt conviction after producing 200 works – over 55 years is a responsibility to share my art. I imagine going up to the Pearly Gates, and being met by the attending angel where he exclaims. “What were you doing with your art?” “It was not meant for you!” “It was meant to be shared; sorry you have got to go back; this is a do over.”
So, help me evade the do over, and have to come back. Please share in my art as your heart moves you and your means allows. Thank You.
My art is a journey of discovery in a partnership with source; “that which skips ahead my trace.” My work is spiritual and I enter it with reverence and gratitude for the privilege of creating.
ABOUT THE PROCESS
My art is playful, whimsical, intricate and complex in a continuously emerging design. I do traditional portraits of loved ones, and landscapes that are in a graphic style. However, these are not typical of most of my work. The majority of my work starts without intent, I have no preconceived subject in mind. I simply sit down with my Bristol paper, mechanical pencils and erasers, micron pens, and colored pencils and draw. I like to weave lines (pipes) and shapes – integrating them as I flow. This flow I believe taps into my personal unconscious and the collective unconscious (C. Jung), essentially drawing an awake dream. I continue to draw and solve design issues as they come up and I wait. I wait for the subject of the piece to emerge. I study the work as I go, turning it to different orientations and see if I recognize its identity.
Once I see what the drawing is about, I become a more consciously intentional partner. Now I draw to aid the subject to show as clearly as possible. This sometimes involves erasing parts of the drawing that confuses the subject. The result of the completed work is often richer than my imagination could have come up with and for this I am deeply grateful.