JD Raenbeau
JD Raenbeau currently lives and works in Rocky Point, New York. He received his MFA from The School of Visual Arts, where he received the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement in Art Practice, and he holds a BFA from Alfred University. Raenbeau has exhibited his work in New York City, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, New Mexico, and the UK, and his most recent solo exhibition was at Lauren Powell Projects in Los Angeles. His work has been featured in New American Paintings, Artsin Square Magazine, and Sensitive Content Magazine. He was recently an Artist in Residence at the Vermont Studio Center and most recently attended residency at The Golden Foundation for The Arts in July 2024. He will be an Artist in Residence at the Hafnarborg Museum in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland, in July 2025
Collect Bean: What role does color play in your practice?
JD Raenbeau: Color is one of my favorite parts of painting. Over time, I’ve really started to challenge myself with color and appreciate pigment and chroma more. I love using color to focus on specific areas in a work. Combining neons and fluorescents with more neutral tones has been exciting and challenging. Lately, I’ve been painting colored light in night scenes, and that in itself is a new challenge as you aren’t working with natural lighting.
Collect Bean: How do you incorporate feedback or criticism into your artistic process?
JD Raenbeau: Feedback is essential to me. Often, I ask for feedback a little too soon, and others will say cover the whole surface first, and then we can assess. My husband, Logan Kjep, gives me feedback all the time. We share a studio in our home, and he has an amazing eye as an artist and habitat garden designer. I reach out to friends all the time as well. I text fellow painter and friend Heather Drazyen every day. We really aid each other in the development of our paintings. I also ask my studio assistant and friend Mikey Dondero for his opinion all the time. I have been spring-boarding ideas back and forth now with fellow painter and friend Ali Miller for over 20 years.
Collect Bean: How do you approach the balance between experimentation and consistency in your art?
JD Raenbeau: My natural instinct is to be consistent. I have to tell myself to experiment. I always try to do something new with every work I’m making, whether it be the specific content, the use of color, the mark-making, or the composition. Attending the Golden Foundation Artist Residency this July allowed me to experiment with pigment, gels, mediums, pastes, grounds, and skins. I’m excited to continue bringing those new techniques and materials into my practice.
Collect Bean: How do you balance your practice with your daily life?
JD Raenbeau: This has always been a challenge for me as I am a full-time educator, and I live close to many of my family and friends who are really important to me. I’ve been teaching for 13 years now, and I think the consistency allows me to have a more prolific art practice. I try to paint after work every day that I can. Freezing my paint pallets has also allowed me to be more efficient in my practice, as my studio sessions are usually shorter due to my work schedule.
Collect Bean: If you could be in a show with any artist, who would it be and why?
JD Raenbeau: It would be a dream to show with painter J Carino. I’ve been a big fan of his work for a while now. He’s a California-based artist who focuses on figuration and our connection to the natural world. We have a lot of overlap in terms of our content and point of view. I think we are painting similar things in different ways, and that in itself would make for a good show.
Collect Bean: If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
JD Raenbeau: Everyone’s not gonna hate you when you come out of the closet. Fly free and just make what you want to see in the world.
