GO Convo with Painter Jay Wilson

For the first Go Convo, we spoke with Jay Wilson to learn how the events of 2020 have shaped his life and his work. Here’s Jay’s story followed by the transcript of our conversation and images of his studio and artwork.

Jay Wilson paints under the pen-name O.M. Norling, a moniker borrowed from his great-great-grandfather. O.M.'s epic adventure is a touchstone for Jay's epic artwork. We’ve included a brief summary:

In the mid-1800s, young Swedish farmhand Olaf Magnus Norling mysteriously disappeared. His whereabouts were unknown. Years later a letter addressed to his mother arrived from New Orleans. O.M. wrote that he missed his family dearly, but that he had to see America with his own eyes and had stowed away on a trans-Atlantic steamer to make his ambition a reality.

Born in 1971, Jay is the youngest of three brothers and son to a career army father and mother who put up with it all. Growing up, Jay found himself frequently adjusting to new surroundings. Six formative years of living and attending school in Germany and South Korea exposed Jay to European and Asian cultures. This mixture of influences and experiences is apparent in his works.

Jay releases a new series of 10 to 15 pen-named O.M. Norling paintings about every twelve months. He gets the word out about where and when they’ll be displayed via his loyal mailing list. As a self-taught, independent artist, his works are enjoyed and coveted by collectors around the country.

Jay lives in Decatur, Georgia with his wife Amy and their three boys

Keeping an eye out for the positives: Making art during a pandemic

GO: Jay, I know the cottage behind your home serves as your studio. With the lockdown, work at home, and schooling for three young boys at home, have you been able to continue to paint during the pandemic? I’d imagine it might be challenging to find the time…and a calm mind and steady hand!

Jay: Fortunately, I have been able to keep busy with painting this year, in spite of the new challenges. Speaking of which, one important thing that has affected so many hasn’t changed for me — my work commute. Work has always been 10 steps out the back door to a small cottage behind my home, so I haven’t had to deal with the disruption of having to get used to a new habitat. I’m still painting on home court. Be assured, I haven’t escaped disruption though. With three teenage boys and remote schooling in the house, there is far more activity on the compound these days. My previously quiet and relatively interruption-free environment is no more. I now perform IT on finicky school-issued chrome books and play Jenga with the easels in the studio to allow my guys access to the printer. There are some gems that have been uncovered... I’ve always been one to work through lunch, but thanks to the boys, my long-lost relationship with SportsCenter has been rekindled via mid-day eat and watch sessions with them.

Regarding painting and life, the well-being of my family has to be in order before I can allow myself the release to create the kind of art that I enjoy so much. If anything, 2020 and the altered landscape brought on by the pandemic have only strengthened and enhanced my focus on what’s important to me: family and art. My roles as husband and father are by far the most meaningful endeavors that I’ll ever be a part of. After all, I chose to be these things – a husband and a father. But, art chose me. The opportunity to create art, for me, is a privilege. And, in order to partake in this beautiful obsession, a certain equation in my life has to balance.

GO: Has COVID affected your vision of what “home” means?

Jay: Absolutely... More than ever, one needs to be able to find some sanctuary and be able to press pause and breathe, even if just for a moment. Family is home and that home is my sanctuary. COVID is the kind of event that can bring out the best and the worst in people…and society. Add too much media, politics, and an election year and you get a very noisy, negative, and warped reality (on both sides, by the way). We all learn to function under stress. But, in addition to the typical stress points that hang around from day-to-day, there have been a lot of times this year where the equilibrium I seek was in extreme flux…and over extended periods. The normal approach to solutions for working, playing, and painting from home didn’t necessarily work, and some new thinking was needed. The sheer scale and scope of this kind of stress is something none of us is used to operating with…except for maybe an air-traffic controller.

GO: Sounds like it would be hard to paint beyond all that noise, negativity, and warped feelings of reality?

Jay: Safe to say, “noisy and negative” are not energy sources I pull from to fuel my art. So, when things started to shut-down in March, I did the only thing that made sense to me - work harder, focus more, adapt to the family’s needs, and try to filter out the landfill of 24/7 news negativity while staying just-enough informed. The result? I’ve managed to stay positive and am creating the best work of my life in the form of commissions and a new series, which I’ll release - one way or the other - next year. I just look around me (ignore the doomsday ding-dongs) and see how hard so many are working, innovating, and sacrificing to make the most of their circumstances.

GO: People truly can be creative and inspiring in times of crisis. Being able to find a “haven” in the midst of struggles really is a privilege, as you said of your art-making. Your closing thoughts on keeping positive through your art?

Jay: The new series is influenced in no way by COVID. I developed the drawings and concepts for the next series entitled Lost in Translation earlier in 2019. The theme has everything to do with how wonderfully remarkable, flawed, strong, and quirky people are. That never changes. In fact, I would say all of those attributes have been on full Technicolor display this year. Please know that my heart goes out to anyone who has lost a loved one this year due to the pandemic. Sending kind and sincere thoughts to those folks that have had far more to manage than the struggles of a humble artist.

Jay's studio