Adam in his studio
Adam Young is a native of the river communities near Lake Charles, Louisiana and his Grandfather was a carpenter, so he comes to love of wood rightly, but if you know Adam and his work, there is magic at work connecting his loving character and his deep interest in words as they come to life on the wood he choses as his palet.
We first met Adam about 8 year ago from our mutual artistic friend Rich Cali. We were immediately drawn to his artwork and his nature. Being around Adam is being around your favorite childhood toy. One that made you happy and comfortable. Friendship with Adam is one of lifetimes.
I have been want to write more about Adam’s new work and asked him a number of questions. Knowing Adam, I had suspicions of answers, but it was fun to get his words. Here are a couple of them.
Adam’s studio
What is your current best inspiration for making your artwork?
You are such a wonderful keeper of language in your work.
Your words come from your journal, right?
Inspiration of the last few years has been trying to read all books written by Carmac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. There are a couple from each writer I keep circling back to. The Crossing by McCarthy has been one that I’ve revisited a lot. There’s the story writing and tone to that book that I can’t quite get past. Other inspirations are our family road-trips to western mountains. We’ll be in Montana and Canada this summer. And as always constantly trying to have a deeper understanding and connection to living on this plane and otherwise.
The text in my work comes from a little notebook that I carry in my pocket daily. Words, phrases, and ideas are constantly circulating in my mind. I’ll grab ahold of the most interesting ones floating around up there and let them marinate in the book til I find place for them or they tell me where they should go. I have been carrying the same little black book for ten years or so now and have several laying around my desk in the studio at any given time. Sometimes the text will lead with the visual composition of a painting and sometimes a visual will come to me that I then find text for. Other times the visual and text reveal themselves all at the same time in one motion.
