Man With Dog: Greenlake - 1990

Author
William Elston

Published
Jun 11, 2025

Tags

urban1990svideo

A friend was visiting Swedish Hospital in Ballard and photographed this painting of mine that was in their collection. The subject is the path around Greenlake, a popular promenade in Seattle.

It was purchased by Swedish Hospital from Davidson Galleries, not long after it was finished. I didn't have a photograph of it until now.

This painting was one of a handful that was developed from video material that was taken on site with a handheld camera. The resulting video was then played, looped, etc, to a CRT display from an editing deck. This was all 1990 tech; I got the editing deck from my friend the late Lou Lowrey.

The idea was to take advantage of the video format's incorporation of movement and change, but the technology wasn't quite there yet. One had to continuously rewind and find one's place in the video, a process that created frequent interruptions that compromised the flow of the painting process itself. It also placed stress and wear on the tape heads, ultimately requiring expensive repairs.

It was an experiment that I abandoned, but not completely. Fast forward to the present; the advent of affordable computers, video capable smartphones and editing software has opened up a realm of possibilities for the creation of work product that can be readily integrated into an artist's creative workflow. The limitations of the old handycam/editing deck/CRT TV are gone. This is not to say that the current tech is without limitations; but they are less intrusive, and if one is mindful of them some good work can be accomplished.