MONTANA AVE The entertainment business appears to be bursting at the seams with people who want to breakout of their primary discipline and venture into a new medium. Oftentimes, the results are met with ridicule and failure.
Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan tried her hand at being a pop star. Sure she sold scads of CDs, but critics haven’t been too kind. Lakers star Kobe Bryant’s foray into the rap game a few years back was so bad he didn’t even bother to release the CD out of fear that it would tarnish his image as an athletic icon. One could surmise that these stars didn’t succeed in their attempts to crossover because they made the leap before honing their skills. While adept at their primary career, their attempts ultimately failed because they made their choices as an after thought instead of an extension of a lifelong pursuit.
That isn’t the case for noted actress and accomplished artist Lori Petty. The Venice-based performer began her creative life as a teenage graphic designer and took on acting later in life.
“I’ve always painted, ever since I was a kid,” Petty said during a recent interview from her home in Venice. “I never really stopped. I kept acting because not many people can make a living painting paintings. It’s not a hobby at all. It is an equal part of my life.”
Apparently she made a wise choice by selecting acting as her bread and butter. She’s shared the screen with heavyweight Tom Hanks in “A League of Their Own” and played Keanu Reeve’s love interest in “Point Break.” She’s even had her own sitcom on network TV, but there’s something about being creative that compelled her to remain firmly planted in the world of visual arts.
“It is just sort of what I do. I wish I was more disciplined. I have to be inspired before I start a project. You have to fill up before you put things out in the world,” Petty said. “Reading, walking, talking... you fill up your treasure chest before you put it down.”
The recent writers strike that shut down Hollywood for the past few months gave her the breathing room necessary to consider organizing an exhibition of her paintings. While shopping on Montana Avenue she stopped in at Deborah Page Gallery and realized “this would be a good place for my art.”
The show, scheduled to begin Feb. 27 and run through March 30, will include 20 of her pieces. Her work incorporates a number of different materials on both canvas and wood.
“I use different (materials) — house paint, oil paint, pencil. I use different mediums. I really like pencils,” she said of her work. “I like to paint on wood because it feels alive. It feels like it has an energy to it that I really like. It’s not as neat. I build up the surface more and more and more until I have something that appeals to me.”
While she has recently shifted her attention to her artwork, she is eager to get back to her work on the silver screen. She recently completed work on “The Poker House,” a drama she directed and co-wrote with David Alan Grier. She had just wrapped production of the film when the writers went on strike, effectively rendering the project dormant for the time being.
“I can’t wait for Hollywood to get back in gear. It’s been crazy because you don’t have any connection with other people [while you’re not working],” Petty said. “It’s all dead, dude. There was not one thing going on [in Hollywood during the strike].”
She’s looking to present her film at film festivals soon. She’s currently working to have “The Poker House” included in the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
Although Petty will soon switch hats and head back into life as a Hollywood lifer, she will always scratch that creative itch that has stayed with her all these years.
“If I’m not painting, it’s writing or drawing or acting,” she said. “I’m always trying to stay active.”
The exhibit takes place at Deborah Page Gallery, 1028 Montana Ave. It begins Feb. 27 and runs through March 30. For more information, call the gallery at (310) 458- 4400 or visit the Web site at www.deborah-pagegallery.com.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 22, 2008. Read the original PDF.