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Brian Meyer
Watercolorist, Live Jazz Painter, Plein Air Poet, Author
About Me
Brian Meyer is a native San Diegan watercolorist and poet, best known for painting jazz musicians at local jazz clubs and concerts. You can hear the music in his painting. His primary focus is painting in the moment, from life, often described as live painting or urban sketching. Watercolors show every mistake; you cannot plan, to do this in public requires years of practice and the ability to improvise; it is very much like dancing. He is a San Diego Watercolor Society member and has painted plein air with them since 2014. These artists represent the California School of Watercolor, a style known for its bold marks and big brushes, significantly influencing his style. In the last Del Mar Plein Air competition, he won 2nd place. Brian has designed and hand-built a portable studio for painting outside; each iteration has evolved to allow him to paint better at night, in crowded clubs, and at live events, to take the traditional plein air approach inside where the people are. In late 2014 Brian started attending the weekly jazz jam at the San Diego Museum of Art. Though he began just painting the scene, this became his primary practice over the years. Jazz isn't limited to music; it's a way of life, of thinking, of accepting mistakes as opportunities, of having the chops to perform without planning. The really interesting things in art, come not from the expected, but from the edges, from being off balance and outside your comfort zone. The way jazz itself is taught, is thru the jam, by daring and doing, by immersion. After eight years, jazz became the bones of his painting; his marks started to swing as if he were part of the band. Brian is also a spoken word poet; he performs weekly at the Poets Underground. His first book Towers Between, was published in 2016. He is currently studying Japanese Sumi-e Ink painting under Sensei Tatsuko Sandin, and much like Matsuo Basho writes poetry as part of the painting process. A veteran who served in the US Army, in operation Desert Storm, he is still wearing the camo hat, being a soldier becomes part of you. Brian paints at various live events in San Diego, ever seeking to capture the scene, the people, the essence, and the music. You can see him creating work in person every Monday and Tuesday at the Acid Vault Amplified Ale Works ( Downtown ). And he is still painting every week at the Wednesday Night Jazz Jam at the San Diego Museum of Art.
