Space in Fern Valley becomes Wylldwood Gallery

John Edward Marin was looking for studio space where he could paint and
found more: space for three painters and his Wylldwood Gallery. “This
was not anticipated, it happened all very spur-of-the-moment. I saw the
space in December, moved in Jan. 5.”

Marin began painting relatively recently, in 2003. “I was told by a
psychic my art would hang in offices, in big buildings. At that time, I
had never painted a thing. I had a decent start in Atlanta, and in 2006
moved to LA, then Palm Springs in 2009, because I had successful shows
in Palm Springs. I didn’t realize that the real estate collapse was
going to collapse my art business as well. I went back into
construction, tried my hand at a lot of things. My last show was in

2013. I was always painting, I even sold a few, but didn’t make the
      effort to get shows. I realized that like in any business, you have to
      take your licks, pay your dues.” 

Another realization he gained from working with dealers was that “the
artists support the people who sell the art, not the other way around. I
spent so much money getting shows together, getting to shows, meeting
requirements.”

Good galleries, he said, really help the artists with things like
marketing, and are essential at certain points in a career. But the art
world is changing, “almost fracturing,” and there are new ways for
artists to connect with buyers. He mentioned a friend in Chicago who
began adding paintings to his Etsy store and, “Now he’s selling
paintings regularly and he’s doing great …

“Online is not my thing. I’m more of physical, tangible person. I like
the idea that this can be an opportunity to help other artists.” So
Marin and husband Michael Brown both have room to paint, along with
another local painter, Michelle Katz. “I’d like to find a little space
for artists who are not local, too. I have one lined up. I’m thinking of
others. The idea is that there will always be a rotating body of work
from the three that are working here, and we’ll have guest artists from
time to time. I’ve offered the Art Alliance space for events.”

Marin seems at home with the idea of folk dropping by when he’s at work.
“I like the idea of being a community place where people can get to know
me, stop by and visit, not a high-pressure sales environment. A place to
appreciate art and talk about it. Maybe you’re an artist who’s inspired
by what you see. That’s great.”

Marin first visited Idyllwild while living in Los Angeles. “I remember
walking in the Village Lane, thinking, ‘This would be a great place to
have an art gallery.’ Funny thing, it’s a better place for a record
shop. The spaces were small for a gallery. Although Taryn’s Place, what
she’s done in that place, they’ve transformed it. It feels alive in
there.”

Marin looks to other ways to serve local artists. “I intend, once the
weather is good, to build panels for painting. I like painting on wood,
and want to offer that for other artists, as well as custom canvas
stretching. It’s how I did it in Los Angeles. I’ve always done wood
working. I like to build things. Instead of carpentry and remodeling,
I’d rather do simple things like this.”

Although Marin, Brown and Katz have very different styles, their
paintings seem to share an emotional energy, and the works on display
have on unplanned overlap in color schemes. The common energy gives the
little gallery a soul of its own.

Marin’s work covers a range of textures and techniques, often in a
single painting. Layers are built up over an initial image, often
figurative. These layers may be sanded and treated, and a geometry
emerges that carries the spirit of an image that is no longer apparent.
His works in progress look like the work of several different artists,
depending on the stage you catch them in.

“The part I most love is the abstract, the exploration of the inner
world. As much as I like figurative, and I like painting figures, my
greatest expression is through the abstract. It’s so raw. Michelle Katz
is a great example of that; she’s letting it all-out. I see the
paintings, I am attracted to the energy, the feeling, not just the
visual. I like a work to have depth. I like to feel the emotion whether
positive or negative. I think it should have something to say, not just
look pretty. I used to sell all kinds of work because it would go great
over the sofa… Not what I want to be about.”

Wylldwood Gallery, 54960 North Circle Dr., is open from 11 a.m. to 4
p.m. Wednesday, 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, 1 to 7 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to
4 p.m. Sunday.