I always loved going into other people’s spaces especially into creative people’s so when Ed told me to meet him at his place, I was excited. I jumped on the jumbo cruiser and headed up the hill to The Heights after grabbing an iced coffee for the road. Soon as I arrived Ed was smiling and inquisitive – wondering who I was. For a moment, I felt like I was getting interviewed but I turned that around in true Missy B fashion. We entered his apartment/studio, and every piece on the wall was his. All white walls with antique wall hangings found by his dad felt like it was a mini gallery of sorts. Living and working in the same space can be hectic, but this artist found a way to make it work. ‘It’s quaint and cool,’ I thought as he offered me some water. We sat at a pretty table swiped with a ménage of colors to start answering questions.

What is your name?

Edward Harbison.

Do you have an artist name?

I sign with Ed.

What medium to you work in?

E: Not exclusively, but primarily it’s acrylic and oil paint on reclaimed wood with tons of polyurethane. I like to use oil based paints and generally acrylic on top, but I have experimented with others but 99% if someone gets a painting that’s what it is.

Where do you get your reclaimed wood?

E: Walking from A to B. Many times I have been late for work because I found a piece on my way and had to drag it back up to the house. And I even bought a jigsaw but it doesn’t work out, I couldn’t make interesting shapes.

It probably takes the adventure part of it out for you too, right?  It’s kind of a treasure hunt for you which can be an addiction in itself.

E: I value chance very much; it’s not the same if you’re forcing it.

If you could describe your artwork in three words what would they be?

E: Conflicted, balanced and child-like maybe. It doesn’t look that different than something I am doing now, so my imagination and the way that I think is the very much the same.

Do you feel there are more dimensions to them now?

E: Yeah, something didn’t go away though I still think about things the same way initially.

Do you have a favorite piece?

E: Yes, this one I like very much. I always try to find a balance between comfortable and uncomfortable, good and bad. I don’t want to say yin/yang because that’s corny but life is kind of like that. This one is kind of like the way relationships are – beautiful, there is an embrace, people are smiling, there may or may not be a heart behind them. But, at the same time, there also may or may not be blood. (He points to bottom half of his piece.) This crap down here is violent, they look happy, but nothing in life is that simple at all. That is the kind of balance I try to achieve in my paintings. There is some playfulness but menacing as they are playful.

Do you have a favorite JC spot and why?

E: I have a bunch, but it may sound cliché, but Barcade and I am not ashamed to say it. I value nostalgia a lot and anything that reminds me of my childhood- which is a big theme of mine and having that be my backdrop is valuable. I don’t even have to play them.

Where did you grow up?

E: I grew up in Hoboken, so I am very familiar with watching cities change in the way that this one is beginning to. Hoboken, when I was growing up, is like night and day from what it is now. It’s all artists burning buildings in the late 70’s.

That leads into my next question. With all the new development happening in Jersey City what are your thoughts on how is it affecting artists?

E: I kind of isolate myself so I don’t know what’s happening, but you can see that it is bubbling up for whatever reason. I think that is a great thing, and I would like to see more of that. I would love to see more kids, youth, and more young people. I would them believe they can be artists. I have only been painting for two years. I studied art longer than that, but I always thought there was something I needed to learn, a technique or a degree but it is absolutely not true. I never took a painting class. I just decided one day that that’s what I wanted to do. If you just decide to be an artist just do it.

We talked about the Mural Program in Jersey City and vibed out to the music in the background as I continued to take photos and explore his apartment.

What is your creative process?

E:  I start with a random color; don’t think about it too much at all. A lot of it is random. I tried to design, and I decided I hate going into a painting with a specific idea in mind, and I end up just sabotage myself intentionally. So for lack of a better term, abstract expressionism is pretty much what I do. I’ll see images and then I’ll expand on that. I don’t worry about the expressions – the expression will come.

When did you commit to I want to be an artist?

E: I was a musician for a long time and always had this self-loathing, judged myself too harshly, so I went to school for art. But what happened when I started painting I learned that not being trained allowed me just to pump them out. I paint them fast. They are kind of like punk rock song. There are going to be people that don’t respect that, but I don’t care.

How long have you been in Jersey City?

E: I went to NJCU and have been here for a decade – lived all over the city.

Do you have any advice for young artists just starting out?

E: The only thing that is stopping anyone at any age from being artists is themselves. That’s it. If you decide that you’re a sculptor or painter, the moment that you decide that no one can take that from you so just do it. It sounds simple, but it’s profound in the same way.

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