When singer-songwriter Martha Berner saw my interview with artist Paul Moschell, she told me I should to check out the work of Joe Sorrren. The minute I clicked on his website, I immediately sent off a note to Martha, thanking her for the introduction.

The work of Joe Sorren tells quiet stories of wonder with melancholic grace. I found myself studying each of his paintings, wondering about the dreamlike characters that filled the snapshots of the canvas. At turns, they made me smile and filled my eyes with tears. It's my favorite kind of storytelling--the kind that takes me by surprise with its complicated emotions--and I was incredibly grateful when Joe agreed to answer a few simple questions.

In reading more about you, I keep coming across the word "lowbrow" to describe your paintings which, frankly, struck me as an offensive description for any kind of art. What is your definition of this word and how do you feel about it being used to describe your work?
My take on it is, it's best to focus on the work and not the categories. They can be a distraction.

I read a fantastic interview with you from several years ago and I wanted to ask about something you mentioned. You compared the feeling that you strive for in your work to night-swimming. Can you say a bit more about that?
There is a quiet force that i feel when I swim at night, it is sort of like an excitement of stillness. Maybe it is all the potential energy, I am not sure. But it is similar to the feeling of painting. Does that explain it? Kinda? 

What made you decide to include the Painting in Progress on your website? It seems a risky move to invite "the world" in to your creative process and inviting critiques, criticisms and questions while you're trying to figure it out for yourself.
When I paint I feel like I have no secrets. It is just a strand of discovery and wrong turns. This way of working takes me longer, but I feel more engaged with the piece than if I were to plan it all out beforehand. More like being an archaeologist on a tightrope or something.

Is there any one of the characters from your work that you would most like to meet as a real person? Whose story do you think might be most fascinating to hear?
Hmm... that is a cool question. Hmmmm. I guess, in a way, I feel like I have met the people in my work.

It's been said in several interviews that music is a reoccurring theme in your work. What are you listening to these days? And how do you think music most influences your style?
Lately I have been listening to loads of Django Reinhardt.  The thing about music, at least the thing I most gravitate to, is the rhythm. I see it mirrored all over everything. In nature and roads, in painting, in randomness. It's like people-watching in an airport or something, the non-scripted flow, like a slinky of conversations all ebbing and crashing. Music is like that too, it's just caged, and I enjoy the steady cagedness of it. Does that make sense?

Another word that comes up a lot in reference to your work is "childlike." Which, to me, stings a bit with a condescending curl of the lip. How do you interpret this description?
Ah, fuck em.

From what I've read, you're a curious soul with an unquenchable thirst for new things, ideas, understandings. What random subject are you currently obsessing about?
How to grill vegetables.

What's the best question you've ever been asked?
"What the hell is that?" 

And whose answer to that question would you most like to hear?
How about Filippo Brunelleschi? That would have been fun to witness. Have you read, "Lives of the Artists," by Giorgio Vasari? It is about artists (obviously). The thing I love about it is that it was written in the 16th century, and is colored by 16th century sensibilities. It helps to put things in perspective. 

www.joesorren.com

Denver-based artist Paul Moschell is one of my favorite discoveries from the weird world of MySpace. His watercolor paintings are a delightful combination of pathos and humor and the eyes of his creations seem to hold the kind of stories you're both intrigued and nervous to hear. 


For more information, check out www.myspace.com/paulmoschell

Below is the note I sent to Paul in reference to our interview:
In my quest to figure out some questions for you, I approached the characters in your paintings to see if they had suggestions. I got a few odd responses that made me question the sanity of the watercolor world where these people live. I would go so far as to say that perhaps a few of them are a bit disturbed with some secrets that are probably best kept hidden behind their wide eyes. (I'd be especially careful with Bobby Louise and Bobby Francis. Wow.)

Here are the 10 questions I felt comfortable sharing:

Paulette the Poo Poo Face Puppet Girl would like to hear your whole life story in under 20 words.

First, I came out of my mothers vagina … after that, it has been a daydream for as long as I can remember.

Loud Mouth Latoya had a different question from each of her mouths so it was a bit hard to understand her at times. However, several of the mouths asked the same question: how and when did the matchbox series start?

Ahhhh … it started in my late twenties, when I was chain smoking cigarettes and surrounded with matches. I found most of the match box covers to be quite dull … so I decided to paint on them. I still paint them from time to time when I need to keep things light hearted … or when I am smoking again. I really don’t care for lighters.

Simple Seleena sat in quiet judgment of me for several minutes before scribbling on a scrap of paper with a quill pen. She then waded up the paper and threw it at me, walking away on an uncertain mission. In the penmanship of a serial killer, she simply wrote: why watercolor?

Why not? I love the way it can be layered and manipulated. And I love using water … it is my favorite element. Besides, I do not use watercolors in a traditional fashion … most watercolor paintings usually consists of sky blue washes and lakes and trees and such. I like to lay it on heavy and in many layers … As I do with many things in life.

Suki Suki Sue smashed a fortune cookie against my forehead and let the fortune fall in my soup. I fished it out with the single chopstick she had given me and let it dry a bit before trying to read it. “When the paintbrushes are resting, what do you do to fill the time?”

Boring stuff. I like to hide in my house and clean and make up dance routines for my dog and cat to enjoy. I enjoy going out at night sometimes … cocktails in strange hotel bars is always interesting. And plants … I really only like 2 stores -- the art supply shop and the greenhouse. I have run out of room for any more plants in my studio but I buy more anyway. Especially succulents.

Lil' Pablo quietly wanted to know what artists inspire you with their music, paintings, films, writing, food or ability to braid barbed wired without injury.

Music is a big one. Lots of soul music. Sade ever since I was a lad has been my favorite singer. Her voice is straight from heaven and her lyrics are the most beautiful. Donnie Hathaway, Mahalia Jackson… god, I could go on for days with this one. And house music when I wanna shake my ass. NOT techno or trance … but deep soulful house. Movies… ummm, too many in my DVD collection. But I always wait for the dvds ... movies theatres freak me out. Unless they are really empty I don’t enjoy them. I can't recall the last film I actually saw at a theatre. I think it was Lady In The Water, I liked it.

Lil Bleu Smokin Devil Boy said “vegetarians rock” and then put out his cigarette in the piece of angel food cake I was eating and walked away. Somehow he believed he had offered up her question for you. Let's just assume he'd like know how you were first inspired to become a vegetarian and how that evolution has changed your perception of the world around you.

I have been a vegetarian for twenty years. I started when I was a teen. To me it is just a filthy industry. And cruel. I read an article in national geographic when I was in high school about mother whales who lost their babies to poachers. And then the mother whales would go down to the bottom of the ocean and find an old rotten log or something and push it around the ocean floor for months pretending it was their child. It was heartbreaking to me and that’s where it all started. For me it is just not natural to eat meat. And with the industry using more steroids and cages and poor conditions than ever it is becoming more and more poisonous to peoples bodies. It's gross.

The Lima Bean Queen insisted I ask how fatherhood changed, challenged or altered your life as an artist and as a man.

Being a dad is scary. The fear of messing up or feeling like a failure hangs over your head all of the time. And at the same time, of course, it is magical. You get to re-live all of the things that you loved as a child--like sledding or trick or treating--and all of the things that you probably wouldn’t do as an adult if you didn’t have a child. But I am like a big kid all of the time anyway. My son thinks I am a crazy person.

Penolope the Poodle Girl, of course, wants to know about Sybil. I think she feels a bit threatened.

Ahhhhh… Miss Sybil, my Chihuahua. She is my numba one side kick for sure. She is so tiny with these giant eyes and I am certain that I snatched her up because she reminded me of my work. Sybil and I get a lot of snickers in public -- here is this 6’1’’ 200 pound man covered in tattoos with a two pound dog. ... But we don’t care because we know we could kick all their asses.

Saint Sylvester laughed really, really, REALLY hard when I asked if he had a question for you. “Ask about the tattoos, man,” was all he said as he flew away. So, I'll ask. Which tattoo did you get first and how many do you currently have?

I got my first tattoo when I was 19 in Spain. I was in a bar in a small coastal paradise called Benidorm and thought I would be really tough and get inked. I got a tiny shark on the back of my shoulder (which has since been covered) and when the tattoo artist finished after all of 5 minutes I stood up and then passed out and hit the floor. HA! It was quite embarrassing. As for how many I have now I couldn’t tell you for sure … I just always say “a lot."

Fish Food Freida thinks you should tell us all, in a very loud and clear voice, why art is important.

For the same reason that music and good food and conversation and friends and family and naps and great sex and sunny days and laughter and everything else is important. It has always had its place. It is a gift from the heavens … And therefore it is important.

www.myspace.com/paulmoschell