~~Classic Velvet Paintings by Song Shen~~

My jump into velvet paintings and working with Song Shen started a couple of years ago. Seeing how the Nuevo Tiki arts revival was in full swing with mugs and art from the early days of Tiki being collected, and new artists expanding the horizon with their own interpretations, I wondered why no one was attempting to do velvets in the style of the early masters. The originals (not the cheap knock-offs or south of the boarder factory paintings) that popped up in places like eBay seemed to be too expensive for the average person to buy. But I knew that many people wanted those kinds of paintings to decorate their homes. I saw an opening for a new artist to take on the task, but I also knew that those with the talent to do paintings in the old style were few and far between and that their paintings would probably have to command prices that the average collector still would not be able to afford. Where could I find someone to work with?

I then decided that maybe finding a talented foreign artist could be the best solution. I put a request out on the internet with a service that is a clearing house for all sorts of foreign artists. For about 6 months I was inundated with people from all over the world saying they were excellent painters willing to paint any subject. Their portfolios did show that they were excellent artist but when I contacted them they all said, “Velvet? I’ve never painted on velvet”.

I then went thru several American companies that contract with artists to make reproductions of classic paintings and do custom portraits. Their response was the same when I asked about velvet. But I finally found a company that said they’d try it.

The first results were hilarious. The first painter painted the entire surface of the velvet as if it were a canvas. None of the black background was present. There were several more attempts by who know who but finally they got it right. It was a beautiful painting. It had all the qualities I was looking for. But the contractor wanted much more money for subsequent orders and I decided I had to give up on the project.

Then one day I noticed that the packaging had under the customs slip a name and email address of a contact in China. I emailed him asking if he was the one who did the velvet. I got a response back in broken English from Song Shen saying he was the one who did the painting and that he REALLY wanted to do business with me – directly - and not to mention it to the company he had contracted with. There are many levels of middle men in the portrait market and the painters themselves do not make much money. They are true ‘starving artists’.

 Anyway, Song Shen and I have been working together ever since, refining things like the kind of velvet to use (there are lots of different types that give you problems), understanding classic styles to be inspired from, coloring, texture, etc. I’m the one who picks the subjects. He’s the one that interprets them. And they really are his interpretations, as you’ve probably seen. I’ve told him I didn’t want exact copies of the master’s velvet styles but to let his own sense of style come thru. I try to send him pre-1964 photos (expired copyrights unless renewed) that I think represent the classic Tiki era well. We’ve found that high contrast shadowed black and white photos are the best. If I like a color photo I now tweak it into a black and white photo before I send it to not prejudice Song Shen’s instincts in coloring.

Song Shen and I have worked on over 20 paintings now. I believe Song Shen’s talent is on a par with the velvet masters of yesteryear and my goal is to have him gain the recognition he deserves. I really love his art and I hope others may come to love it as much as I do.

Well, this is my first attempt at writing a blog. I’ve been told that it helps keep your name out there on search engines and I really want to get Song Shen exposed to the public. He deserves recognition and I hope will be well known some day.

My name is Keith Hayes and I represent (that sound so formal) Song Shen. I’m kind of like Barney Davis, an army buddy of Edward Leeteg, who started a gallery in Honolulu to sell Leeteg’s paintings after the war. Except this website is my gallery.

For those who don’t know, Leeteg is considered the father of classic velvet painting and is the inspiration for what I and Song Shen are trying to do. There once was a time when professional, gallery quality, black velvet paintings were being done. This was long before the boom in cheap, tacky, low brow velvet painting took over and ruined the respect early velvets had as true art.

My part in Song Shen’s art, rather than being just a pseudo gallery owner, is that I work hand in hand with him in choosing subjects and helping him develop his velvet skills by providing examples of classic velvet art.

Song Shen is new to velvet painting. He is a professional portraiture artist who until recently has specialized in oil on canvas. He has been painting for over 20 years and has had formal training and taught college level classes. He is a master artist whose paintings, in my opinion, rival the best of today’s formal painters.

But Song Shen is also a starving artist who is in constant need of work. He lives in Changsha City in Hunan Province, China, has a 4 year degree from Hangzhou Art University, taught for 2 years at Ludong University in Yantia, worked for a short time at the Marc Ecko Studio, and then went freelance in 1998. You would think that with such an extensive background as a painter he would be rather well off, but he is a Chinese painter. And the competition between Chinese artists for work is fierce.

Most of Song Shen’s work is for American middlemen who commission him to do portraits for photo studios. If you have had a professional sitting with a photographer you probably were offered to have your portrait turned into an oil painting – at a phenomenal price. But it is the photo studio that makes the money, not the artist. Song Shen is one of those poor artists. He is constantly looking for work and with the downturn in the economy he is struggling even more.

I’ll get into how Song Shen and I connected in my next blog. It is a really interesting story with many twists and turns.