Before moving to the Central Coast about 20 years ago, Jayne Behman regularly led art classes for children and teens in Palm Springs. A prolific artist who sold her first abstract painting at age 18, Behman has an anecdote from her teaching days that sums up her perspective on finding the right time to put a project to bed.
“I remember students asking me, ‘When is my painting finished?’ My answer would be, ‘When you are finished learning from it, and when you are no longer having fun,’” Behman told the Sun over email.
Behman’s trajectory as an artist is a constant whirlwind of experimentation, as she’s dipped her toes in various forms of media over the years, including acrylic painting, gel printmaking, and various digital art platforms.
The latter practice grants her the freedom to continuously alter some artworks without committing to permanent changes—comparable to saving separate drafts of a document without revising the original.
“The possibilities are endless,” said Behman, the featured artist of Gallery Los Olivos’ next solo exhibition, Brushes and Pixels, slated to open on Sunday, Sept. 1, and remain on display through the end of the month.
Previous showcases of Behman’s digital art include Electric Abstractions—a trio exhibit held at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) in 2018.
Both the SLOMA show and the artist’s new exhibit in Los Olivos were efforts to celebrate Behman’s digital creations, which she often completes with an iPad. But in the same way technology has evolved over the past six years, so has Behman’s approach.
Though use of artificial intelligence (AI) art applications, such as DaVinci AI and Midjourney, has been seen as controversial and has drawn divisive feedback among artists, Behman considers both to be helpful resources with her digital art, and she champions a creative component of AI that many people seem to overlook.
“Actually, the creativity in using AI—today—is how the creator puts together word prompts to initiate an image,” Behman said. “I feel that AI is a starting tool and may spark some interesting ideas.”
Behman said she writes specific prompts into AI applications before using the resulting imagery “as a beginning suggestion” that she’ll later alter “completely ... to fit my emotional needs.”
In other words, Behman refers to AI-produced art as just “a beginning, not an end.”
“What I feel lacks in AI is a ‘warmth,’” Behman said. “There’s a flatness.”
For some of her final pieces—evolved and altered from AI-generated imagery—Behman found a unique way to combat the cold, collected, and literally inhuman nature of AI.
“Instead of having these printed on paper or canvas, I wanted to create ‘warmth,’ so I decided to have these printed on poly-felt,” Behman explained, “which lends thickness and warmth to the pieces.”
The artist will take part in a Q-and-A to discuss her art and techniques at Gallery Los Olivos during a reception on Sunday, Sept. 15, from 1 to 4 p.m. The gallery is inviting the public to “witness the convergence of art and technology” at the reception and throughout Behman’s exhibit at the venue, according to press materials.
Behman suggests that attendees don’t shy away from getting up close and personal with some of her displayed abstract artworks of a specific size for a specific reason.
“Most of the pieces at my showcase at Gallery Los Olivos are large, and I love large abstract pieces of art,” said Behman, who encourages viewers to stand “physically close” in front of her sprawling abstract visions to become absorbed and “immersed into what is happening.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood’s favorite immersion is into a hot tub. Send comments to [email protected].
