For most people, turning 101 might mean looking back on a lifetime of accomplishments. For World War II and Korean War veteran Jack Bannerman of Rockville Centre, it is another opportunity to create something new. The self-taught paper artist has spent the past several years exhibiting his intricate collages in public libraries throughout Nassau County, where visitors have filled guest books with praise for the imaginative works he builds one carefully placed piece of paper at a time. His exhibit recently left the Uniondale Public Library on July 31. However, Bannerman's lagacy continues.
Q: How do you like having your art in libraries?
A: Oh, I love it. I love it wherever they put it. It’s being shown. That’s all I care about. People who visit the libraries left their remarks, and they’re all pleasant and wonderful. I’m happy that it’s being shown, that’s all i care about. I’m flattered by these comments of how much they care for me. The adjectives and adverbs they use on my work. It’s amazing. That was their main one — ‘amazing.’
Q: How old were you when you first became interested in art?
A: Well, its a pleasant story. My mother, when cooking and making cakes, she used to make shapes and she’d let me roam around on the floor. My mother would mix flour and water and put it on the floor, and I’d pick it up. And I’d do the same thing as her. And that’s how it all began. Then I went through everything, you name it. I started with clay. I worked my way all the way through wood, stained glass you name it, I worked on it.
Q: How do you get the paper to stick onto the frame and what materials do you use?
A: They often ask me, ‘How do you get this to stick?’ And I surprise everybody I tell them ‘You don’t understand? You never heard of Elmers Glue? I also like to pick up the frames for nothing – I look for the old type of frames that had the gold laminate on it.
Q: Where do you keep all your artwork?
A: Anywhere and everywhere. And my daughters house.
Q: Why did you start making art as a hobby
A: Well, I made them only for one reason. To leave something to my children. Throughout the years, I left them everything. This time, it’s going to be all my artwork to do whatever they want with it. They can give some of it to charity or themselves.
Q: Where do you find your inspiration?
A: Oh, this is all my imagination. Oh, yeah, every bit of it, I even make up stories. I also make up my own leaves. Leaves don’t grow the way I make them. Nobody would ever see a leaf like that in real life that I put on my picture.
Q: Did you have other hobbies?
A: I studied music in school. I went to Commerce High School and this school in New York started a music program Learned a lot. Then I became a musician. I had a four-piece band put together. All I thought about was music, I want to come out a big-shot musician. But the music business died. I wanted to be a hot-shot musician with a wife and kids. But I could only have one. So I decided to get married.
