Revisted this motif for several fresco monotypes (for lack of a better term for the process/medium). Thank you to Daniel Heyman and Cindi Ettinger
Thinking of Edward Hopper (rooms by the sea), of sights fossilized in memory
Thinking of Milton Avery
I'm in Granada, Spain for the next month. Here, visual art might be defined as geometric systems...Interlocking spiral patterns can't be avoided. I think I may be in a hypnotic state?? Here is a watercolor from today.
Above: I had the opportunity to paint in a park this past weekend. I will write more later...
For now, a quote to leave you with: "That art is not something that is learned and then practiced, it is a form of communication and one is always trying to say something clearer. To love and to be honest, maybe one does not exist without the other and a desire to communicate that, this is what it takes to make art. Start by putting down the one color that excites you the most, then the next, relating it to the first. This is the relationship that excites you the most. Then the third color, relating it always to the whole. You are emphasizing what interests you and minimizing other things by putting them in the service of your true passion and leaving out altogether what distracts. Keep it simple." ---from http://paintingperceptions.com/still-life/ken-kewley-writings-on-color Of the paintings/drawings I did this weekend this one is currently looking the best--done in my sketchbook on a train ride back to Philly.
I was meditating on the way in which the view out the window appeared distorted due to the motion of the train: nearby objects were blurred and fragmented while those closer to the horizon were more distinct. Thank you for stopping by. “Once the object has been constructed, I have a tendency to discover in it, transformed & displaced, images, impressions, facts which have deeply moved me” – Alberto Giacometti I did a drawing from a studio set up in Scott Noel's class this morning. I was enjoying the beautiful morning light, and tried to approach the drawing as a record of visual attention alternatively skimming and bearing down through the space. {Play slideshow below to see how the drawing progressed over time.} Here's a pic of a recent oil painting in progress.
I am trying to be more attentive to the music of shape relationships that the eye collects through a scene. 'Loving'/resisting the naming of objects. Current Inspiration: Gwen John, Giorgio Morandi, Bonnard, and Diebenkorn. Fascinating resonance of shapes and color notes in the painting below by Gwen John.... Below is some recent work done with gouache... inspired by Dana Schutz, R. Crumb, Schiele, Megan Marlatt: ^Wallpaper ^Second-hand Epiphany Kitsch! ^I want to live!
This is the first painting I have done from my imagination/memory in quite awhile. It was really refreshing. I don't think this painting is anything close to miraculous, but even the most humble works can help one progress. There is a beauty of the image taken from the mind that is quite unique from a study. I have felt stuck in a rut over the last year or so, and perhaps this is a result of my imagined obligation to painting directly from life.
To paraphrase Robert Henri, perhaps it is best to start with a deep impression, and remain faithful to this, rather than what is in front of you--this is best done by working from memory. In our memory, the clearest images are those imbedded in a moment of sudden clarity. There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual. These are the moments of our greatest happiness, our greatest wisdom. We hope to re-live these fleeting visions in their complete depth, but often can only re-conjure a shell of the moment past. It was in this hope that the arts were invented. The clarity of mind that I can sometimes come across while working is simply the best feeling I have found in this world. I have also painted for months at a time without ever experiencing it. “The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” --Henri Pinterest is a great way to discover new art and keep track of art you like (as well as fashion, DIY, etc). For those of you who aren't already pinning, it's like bookmarking but with pictures. From now on my inspirations will probably end up on my pinterest board rather than this blog.
Gillian Pederson-Krag is a favorite painter of mine who I somehow haven't mentioned on here before. Unfortunately it seems impossible to find good pictures of her paintings online and she doesn't have a website. I have two of her exhibition catalogs that miraculously appeared on amazon. I highly recommend them to any still life painter, they have been an invaluable resource for me. Above are the few (and sadly, tiny) pictures of her work that I could find online.
Update: 4/16/12- Excellent and insightful interview Gillian Pederson-Krag by Elana Hagler on painting perceptions! I was Texas for the last week visiting my boyfriend. Went to the Fort Worth MoMA which has a great Diebenkorn exhibit. It was incredible to see many of the "Ocean Park" paintings in person. The smaller works were equally awesome. Highly recommend going if you're in TX. Unfortunately, no photography allowed. My boyfriend's mother, Martha Burkert, is a wonderful painter. She introduced me the work of Christine Lafuente. Her still-lifes struck a chord with me (Example below). I love it when a painting can be so specific about light and color without tedious detail. Forms are unlabored and come together despite the abstraction of the parts, describing the sensation of sight more accurately than realism. The surface of the painting is a guided visual meditation. I was reminded of illustrators Doug Chayka and Mark English. The simplicity of their work is gorgeous and intentional. Why they are painted seems related in an interesting way to how they are painted. Many people describe art as a method of engaging/fighting an obsessive part of the mind. I've been thinking recently about the conversation between the obsessive mind and meditative mind that unfolds in certain paintings.
Changes made over 2 days. Will write more at some later point Recent Inspiration:
I am applying to MFA programs in painting at PAFA (due Feb 1), UNH, NYSS and BU (Feb 15). So much work I want to finish before then. Here is a painting I started of my bedroom at home. Recent Inspiration:
Been looking at Antonio Lopez Garcia and Euan Uglow. I am absolutely blown away by their patience. The time and concentration evident in their work seems to suggest incredible fortitude against boredom. An update of the kitchen painting and a new still life. I am trying to enjoy the process rather than stressing over the final product. I am content with the Light Bulb painting at the moment. I also did the crappy painting below. Not worth continuing, but I'm trying not to agonize over it as time wasted. There are going to be false starts. Looking forward to painting something else over it. Recent Inspiration: -Great article about 'hackers' and painters. Thanks for the tip, Dan! -Awesome Rob Ryan interview reminded me not to take myself too seriously and to think of painting like a child--it's just playtime. In the month since my last post I've been concentrating on changing aspects of my approach to painting. I was inspired by an interview of Mat Klos on painting perceptions. There is a beauty in the un-arranged that is perhaps more interesting to me at this time than the set-ups that have been my primary subject matter up to this point. Below is some recent work. It doesn't look like much, but I believe relaxing the desire to control will lead me in a positive direction in painting and in life.
Here is an underpainting I started yesterday, done in charcoal, pencil, clear & white gesso. At 23x24" this is the largest painting I have attempted in about 6 months. Below is a video of one of my absolute favorite contemporary painters, Sangram Majumdar. Here is the painting I did at Lake Anna last Saturday. I usually work through an oil painting over the course of several separate sittings. However, for this landscape I limited myself to a couple hours of work as I want to push myself to paint more quickly. I am not very happy with the result, as I wish there was a stronger presence of light and that the trees were more decisively formed. If that's not too pretentious a description. Below are some landscapes I have been admiring lately. (Slideshow images #1-5 from Artstor.org, #6 from www.MarthaBurkert.com)
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