Painter, writer and cartoonist Peter Steiner: Finding the exceptional in the ordinary

SHARON — Most people find something they are good at and pursue it for the majority of their lives. Peter Steiner, who has lived in Sharon since 2003 and is well-known because of his long career as a cartoonist for The New Yorker and other publications, divides his working day between two loves: painting and writing.

In conjunction with a show of his paintings, which will be on display through Jan. 31, Steiner gave a talk on Sunday, Dec. 12, at the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon called “A Writer Who Paints, A Painter Who Writes.�

The talk focused on how Steiner balances two equally compelling artistic endeavors.  Of course, cartooning is the intersection of illustration or painting with words and ideas. But in this later part of his life, Steiner has delved into the far corners of both disciplines.

He has created many canvases, including portraits, still lifes and landscapes (many of which are now on the walls of the library).

And he has also published a trilogy of thrillers set in southern France (“Le Crime,� also sometimes called “A French Country Murder,� “L’Assassin� and “The Terrorist�).

On Sunday, Steiner also talked about the freedom he feels in producing art for pure enjoyment.

“I work very hard at them, but I don’t have to, and that makes all the difference,� he said during his talk.

Steiner has always been involved in the arts, both visual and literary. As a child, he liked to draw. Others praised his drawings, so he kept making them.

As an adult, he became a professor of German literature at Dickinson College. Then he began a career in cartooning. To get his first cartoon published in The New Yorker, he sent 10 to 20 cartoons a week to the magazine for two years, until one was finally accepted.

“The New Yorker published 400 of the 10,000 or so cartoons I sent to them,� he said, assuring the audience that this is actually a pretty good acceptance rate for a cartoonist.

While cartooning was his occupation (and possibly his means of getting an obituary in The New York Times, he joked), Steiner never gave up on his love for capturing in paint the things he sees. The show at the library focuses on landscapes and on buildings such as barns, factories, quarries and mines.

“I find the exceptional and the beautiful in ordinary, even ugly,  things,â€� he said.

He said that being a visual artist has affected his writing, in that he can visualize the situations he is creating while he writes — even when he is using a location he has never visited.

“When I write a setting, I can see it in my mind’s eye,� he said.

However connected his two creative outlets may be, Steiner doesn’t mix them. He said that trying to switch back and forth between painting and writing in a short period of time is like trying to drive two cars at the same time.

“You have to drive one, stop it and put it in park, then get in the other one,� he said.

He does, however, enjoy both equally.

“I don’t know why they both live in me, but neither one is sufficient.�

Like many artists in the area, Steiner said he has been affected by living in Sharon. While he claimed that he would be painting barns no matter where he lives, there is plenty here to inspire him.

He also said that the Northwest Corner seems to be a breeding ground for artists.

“There’s so much artistic endeavor here,� he said. “It must be in the air. There are artists under every rock."