Archive for August, 2010
Debbie
Debbie is my eldest daughter. She is a very creative person and lives with her husband, George, in Ingleside, IL, in Lake County, north of Chicago.
Debbie has a degree in Graphic Design from the University of IL, but has never worked as a graphic designer – too much stress. She is interested in photography and has worked for a photo studio, vegetarian grocery, vegetarian diner, and as a nanny. Her boss, Barb, sells commercial real estate and Deb has worked for her since Barb’s older child was 3 1/2 years old. The children are now 18 and 13.
At this point, Deb must think of the future. She is interested in combining her interest in rescuing cats with her interest in photography. A few years ago she helped her cats do paintings for a fund raiser for her rescue group. They were abstract expressionistic paintings and one was a big orange self portrait by Colonel Mustard! Some of those paintings sold for up to $150. Deb now has a new Photo Shop program for her Mac computer, so I hope she can learn ways of helping the cats and herself financially as well as finding a satisfying vocation.
Richard McKinley
Recently, I read an interview with plein air painter Richard McKinley. The following are some of his thoughts.
As artists, we are very visual, and any form of painting is visual. Our visual patterns were etched in our psyche in childhood; the colors and patterns of our childhood are the ones with which we are most comfortable as adults.
Every landscape painter paints the body of water or the road winding back into the distance. These have a sense of mystery. The artist tries to make the landscape a little more poetic.
Painting provides a challenge – the intellectual and emotional stimulation – that an artist needs. The painting is like a dance partner; sometimes it steps on the artist’s toes, sometimes it’s the other way around; sometimes we barely make it to the end; sometimes we quit midway because it isn’t working. And sometimes it turns out great! It’s the partnership that keeps the artist coming back.
Violet is the magic tone in the landscape. Whether it is warm or cool, it serves as the perfect bridge between the worlds of weather and light conditions, and it’s everywhere. My own teacher, many years ago, advised,”When in doubt, use purple”.
Ulrike Arnold
In the June 2010 issue of the Artist’s Magazine there is an article about German artist Ulrike Arnold. She paints with the outdoors. In the past 20 years she has traveled to 5 continents and many countries and paints en plein air with the elements she finds.
She tries to capture the essence of a place by using the pigments from the earth she finds in rock, sand, mud and clay. She crushes them into a fine powder and mixes them with a transparent binder and uses them as her painting pigments.
Recently, she met Marvin Killgore, a meteorite expert who had collected meteorites from Argentina and Greenland. When he sliced the meteorites for study under a microscope, he also had dust which he had kept. He gladly gave Arnold the dust and now she paints with the material from the cosmos as well, creating abstracts with a little bit of heaven right here on earth. Her website is http://www.ulrikearnold.com
Painting in a Photographic Age
In the latter half of the 19th century, photography was just becoming a viable art form and painting appeared to be taking a backseat to this up-and-coming medium. Proponents of photographic art argued that snapshots offered the ultimate expression of realism – they captured things exactly the way they were. In response, European painters began exploring impressionist art.
Impressionism took a look at real images and landscapes from a whole new vantage point – that of the artist. Suddenly the straightforward paintings of old were jazzed up with an emotional impact. Colors were more vibrant and lines less distinctive. It was as if artists were painting from memory, embellishing certain elements of the work even as others receded into the background. In short, the impressionists proved that oil painting was still among the most relevant of mediums.
Betty
Let me tell you about my friend, Betty. Betty is a very personable gal; everyone is her friend. She started a group she calls “Laughing Ladies” as her answer to the Red Hat ladies and the group meets every month for dinner and laughs, and serious concern about her friends, also.
Betty is a landscape painter and loves to paint homey scenes – for example, a house with a tree on which a tire hangs. On the tree are the initials of 2 lovers of long ago, implying they now own the home and have children who enjoy the swing.
Betty painted a stump with a red bird on it because she thought one of her friends would like it – and hug it on the wall one night when the Laughing Ladies came. Sure enough, that lady loved it – as well as did 2 others. As a result, she had 2 new orders of a stump with (different) birds. At this point she has made close to $1000 on stumps with birds – all from her friends and their friends!
Suzannne’s Show – Part 2
Today I stopped by the frame shop where Suzanne’s paintings are on display. She has one large painting, several middle-sized paintings, and a few small paintings which were nicely arranged in a small display area. It is always good strategy to have a variety of sizes for persons with a variety of budgets.
Suzanne does plein air painting (outdoors) and represents the landscape very beautifully in a traditional manner. I can only wish her well and hope she has many successful years in the art world!
Suzanne’s Show
My friends and I were not Art majors in college. We have all taken up art after school and, in some cases, several years afterward.
So Suzanne was thrilled when a local gallery owner asked her to join the paint-out at a nearby winery and donate the painting to a charity that the gallery supported. This meant that she would be painting with formally trained artists who were now locally recognized.
Suzanne did several oil paintings, selected the one she wanted to donate, and had it framed.She then made the donation and was excited to learn that it sold! She was truly delighted to learn that the frame shop wanted her to exhibit several of her own paintings in the shop – a one woman show!