Paying It Forward

Twelve years ago, when Swampscott artist Bill Cloutman decided to reconnect with his oil painting roots, he called on his old teacher from the Vesper George School of Art, in Boston.

 Not just any old teacher. He called on the renowned Robert Douglas Hunter, the “last of the living Boston School of Painters.”

 Keeping true to the Boston School tradition of aiding other artists along the way, Hunter responded by saying, “come paint in my garden and I will help you.”

His “garden” was a large estate on the Charles River in Needham, and his help was daily instruction in plein air, or outdoor, painting.

 In order to work with Hunter, Cloutman left a highly successful career as an art and creative director in advertising. His clients included many of the early high tech companies in the area, Lotus, Prime Computer, DEC, as well as McDonald’s and Morgan Yachts.

 Now a plein air painter and teacher himself, Cloutman hasn’t looked back. In fact, he says, “the ad business has completely changed.”

 With the advent of the computer, people with a only a modicum of “conceptual skills can make anything look professional.” And, social media has changed the whole approach of advertising so that now clients need and want different skills from their advertising firms.

 The switch from commerce to fine art wasn’t without precedent.

“I’ve been drawing and painting ever since I was six, seven years old,” Cloutman says, “and I always knew I’d be an artist.”

At Vesper George he chose commercial over fine art only because with fine art he was “unsure how he would make a living.”

 He “cannot think of a better career to have had” than advertising, telling stories that make the hi-jinks on the popular TV show about advertising MadMen look tame. Cloutman laughs: you have to “be a little crazy to begin with” to succeed in and enjoy the field.

 Teaching brings many benefits for Cloutman. “No artist wants to be on cruise control,” and teaching helps with this. “It makes you think about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.”

He warns that there is always the possibility of executing without thinking fully about what it is you’re doing, leaving a product professional, but lacking heart.

 His years of painting outdoors have molded him as well.

“In plein air you have to paint quickly. I’m very fast and decisive; I know how to move on quickly. I bring this quality and can [show people] how to stay on their own toes, how to not get stuck.”

 Cloutman welcomes painters to the class who have had some experience, and he looks forward to “taking them to the next step.”

Local painter Bill Cloutman offers classes in oil painting, Tuesdays at 7 pm, at the Gaga Gallery, 459 Humphrey Street, beginning February 15, for $20 a session.